Broken
by LeviathanoftheSky
Summary: Under the blood-matted hair, stained most likely by a drying wound on the side of the man's head, was a pair of familiar red eyes, opened just a crack as they followed him pleadingly, fearfully. Warnings inside. Eventual Shizuo/Izaya
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

Warnings: Rated for sexual content and violence. Rape heavily implied.

* * *

Shizuo ascended the steps slowly, the metal stairs creaking with each step as he stormed closer towards the designated address. Tom couldn't come today; he had caught a cold the last minute and insisted that the beast of Ikebukuro try taking care of this collection on his own, reminding him to stay calm until it was clear that the debtor wouldn't pay.

Shizuo really did try to contain himself this time; he knocked first, rather harshly. However, the doorknob remained still as he waited "patiently" for the owner, and he heard only laughing behind the door, accompanied by the sounds of punching and the familiar chaotic cheering of what could only be either a gang gathering or a bunch of drunken friends in this particular part of town. Finally snapping, the bodyguard kicked down the door, and the world inside froze at the sight of him.

"Hei… Heiwajima Shizuo!" one of the punks gasped, shakily taking out his switchblade.

"You coward, there's one of him and forty of us!" another one yelled impatiently at him from deeper in the room, his voice slightly hitched. The lighting was dim, and Shizuo could just barely make out…

"B-b-but…" the first man stuttered, turning the bartender's attention back to him.

"Okay, fine!" the other spat as he pulled away from something pressed against the table with a sickening squelch before shoving it aside onto the floor and pulled up his pants. Shizuo heard a soft pained cry before the other gave whatever it was a final kick. "Shut up!"

The bodyguard heard weak coughing like a sick man on his deathbed, his lungs overused and falling apart.

'_What is that?'_ However, before he could react to the sound any further, the man was already in front of him, his face a little red and his clothes disheveled from whatever he was just doing; Shizuo didn't quite want to know.

"What do you want?" the "leader" of the group asked, fingering a switchblade of his own.

"You owe us some money," Shizuo told him simply, almost knowing that in a matter a seconds something in the room would go flying, whether it is the lamp next to him or the man himself. He eyed the sofa quite affectionately.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the other replied, feigning a dramatic shrug. "Our big boss should've already paid…"

"Well he hasn't, if it isn't obvious enough by now," the bodyguard answered him, gritting his teeth. _'Kill kill kill kill.'_

"Then just wait a few more days." Another man approached Shizuo from behind quietly, holding a metal bar, ready to swing. "Now if you don't mind, I have some business to finish with the boss's present…" The bar descended, only to halt in a dead stop in the target's palm.

"You tried to hit me with this, didn't you?" Shizuo asked, turning around slowly as his attacker stepped back, shaking in fear. "You tried to kill me." He wrenched the bar out of the other's hands and swung it at the man's face, cracking the other's jaw and sending him flying into several of his buddies. "You're not going to pay, right?" he yelled, picking up the next nearest object: the beloved sofa. "Then I'm just going to have to convince you!"

A cat sniffed at the prize it found, a half-eaten fish, only to jump out of the dumpster as two men flew out of the window three stories above, followed by a glass slashed sofa. A few more followed suit, landing in a sizable heap in the trash, while yells and the sounds of breaking wood, glass, and whatever else furniture could be made of echoed in this dirty little alley. After a few minutes, all was quiet, and the cat jumped back in, purring in delight when it found its dinner intact.

Shizuo sighed as he stared at the mess he had made in the room: unconscious humans everywhere, some on the floor, some smashed against the wall, and even some halfway in the wall itself. He shrugged, getting ready to leave; he had to report back that they weren't going to pay. It was a pain, to say the least. After all, business was harsh these days since idiots never seem to learn, even after the first beating.

He heard a soft groan from somewhere in the room and stopped, frowning. It was the same voice from earlier, and he swore that he had heard it somewhere before. In fact, it reminded him strongly of… Shizuo's frown deepened, pushing that thought away as he went against instinct and turned back, kicking aside several of the punks as he made his way through the room.

He saw the glint of metal first on the floor between the table from earlier and a fallen bookcase and groaned, knowing that the piece of furniture had fallen on top of the person after he had thrown it into several of the now unconscious gang members. Shizuo lifted the bookcase slowly, hoping that whoever those handcuffed hands belonged to was still alive.

The person groaned again as the heavy wooden piece came off, its books spilling off the shelves onto him mercilessly. Shizuo moved to sweep the volumes away, finally catching a glimpse under the still dim light of the extent of damage this person had sustained.

Bruises littered the pale skin; Shizuo could guess there was at least one cracked rib judging by the color on the man's bare chest. Despite his efforts, his eyes moved down the thin naked body; he saw a mixture of blood and something white still dripping slowly, painfully onto the dirty carpet. Shizuo could make out the sound of breathing, light and barely audible, the chest rising ever so slightly, hanging on to whatever life it still had. His eyes finally moved to the man's face, and his stomach lurched with realization.

Shizuo almost didn't recognize him under all the bruises on his face, the split lip, and the mouth slightly opened, gasping for air. However, under the blood-matted hair, stained most likely by a drying wound on the side of the man's head, was a pair of familiar red eyes, opened just a crack as they followed him pleadingly, fearfully.

"What the hell…" he muttered, fighting off the bile that rose in his throat.

* * *

Hello! Uh… I wanted to write something dark, and this was the result. I hope that you'll like it!

I was wondering; do you prefer shorter chapters and faster updates or longer chapters and slower updates? I haven't written a chapter this short for a while, but it felt like the right place to stop.

I still have one to two more chapters to go on my other fanfiction before I'll start working on this one regularly, so stay tuned! Ah… this is my first M-rated story ever, so I feel a little awkward writing it haha. Help me here!

Anyways, thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Several thoughts ran through his head simultaneously as he stared at the man on the ground before him. _'Now's a pretty good time to kill him…'_ was of course, the first to cross his mind. If it was anyone else, the other more "normal" thoughts would've instantly prevailed. Instead, he grinned. _'Or I can just leave him here and then…' _

The red eyes finally closed, as if accepting whatever fate Shizuo was about to grant him. Izaya took in a deep breath as if to sigh, but instead, coughs resonated throughout the room; by now he was gasping. He tried to take in whatever oxygen he could while instinctively attempting to bring his knees up to his chest to protect what was left of him from the impending addition of pain from the bodyguard. His wrists strained against the handcuffs, deepening the red marks around his wrists.

The grin fell. "The hell? You want to die?" the bodyguard nearly spat at him, roughly grabbing Izaya's shoulder to stop him from moving. Even though Shizuo decided he wasn't going to kill him, yet, that didn't mean he had to treat the flea gently. Despite the wave of pain that surely swept through his bruised shoulder, the informant suddenly relaxed, his breathing returning to the quiet slow rhythm Shizuo had heard just a few minutes earlier.

"He… fainted?" The bodyguard stared at the informant for a moment before finally cursing at the flea for putting him in this kind of predicament. He was much more accustomed to chasing the cackling flea, not listen to his gasps of whatever last breath he was taking.

Finally grudgingly deciding on a course of action, Shizuo broke the handcuffs cleanly off with his index fingers between the metal and the informant's wrist, freeing Izaya's hands first. He saw small spots of blood where the continuous rubbing of skin on metal burned through the epidermis and looked away, deciding to search for something large and warm… Well not necessarily warm, he told himself; he just didn't feel all that up to carrying a naked man through the streets of Ikebukuro.

Izaya remained where he was, lost somewhere in his own mind, as Shizuo unearthed a coat from one of the fallen closets and walked back to him. The bodyguard laid the garment on the floor next to the unconscious man before rolling Izaya off his side onto the coat and wrapping the sides around him. He picked up the entire bundle slowly although his brain screamed at him to hurry up and get it over with.

'_When the fuck did I get so soft?' _Shizuo thought; he told himself that he'd kill Izaya himself after all of this, when the stupid flea wasn't looking like some helpless piece of shit beaten half-way to hell. That thought made him feel a little better. Just a little.

Shizuo frowned; he didn't know Izaya was this much smaller than him. He still heard breathing, confirming that the act of lifting the informant off the ground hadn't punctured anything else. Gritting his teeth, he ran off towards Shinra's apartment, blanketed by the darkness of night, fighting a battle with himself every step of the way on whether or not to just drop the flea onto the concrete in some dark alley and kill him there and then.

A few hours later, Shizuo rocked back and forth impatiently on the couch of Shinra's apartment, finding his half-smoked cigarette to be his only source of comfort at the moment as he waited for the doctor to come out of the room. He heard Shinra's muffled voice and the sound of the PDA's tapping keys behind the door but didn't dare distract their work; there wasn't much he could do anyway. He was built for fighting, not delicate surgeries. At least, he was pretty sure that Shinra had to carry out some sort of surgery with Izaya in that kind of condition.

The bodyguard closed his eyes, trying not to recall the blurry hours that had passed ever since he entered that cursed room and decided just to rest for the moment; a dreamless nap would be best.

"_Fool…" he heard, a quiet whisper that echoed throughout the darkness of his mind._

'_Oh great, I asked for a dreamless sleep, damn it!' Shizuo yelled back at the voice, frustrated enough by all the things that had already happened tonight._

"_Why didn't you take him?"the whisper continued, unfazed. _

'_Huh? What the hell are you talking about?'_

"_Instead, you saved him, stupid human…"_

'_Who are you calling stupid?'_

"_You are supposed to make him suffer… He has to suffer for what he has done to my beloved… along with the rest of this wretched human city…"_

'_Okay, that's weird. Who…'_

A slight irritation on his lips made his eyes flicker open as he realized the cigarette was burning him. Cursing, the bodyguard looked around for the ashtray; Shinra had made it a habit to keep one around even when he himself didn't smoke. By the time he found it, only ashes remained in his charred palm. Sighing, Shizuo wiped his hand off over the little ashtray as the door opened.

"Uh…" Shinra spotted the burn on the bodyguard's palm. "Do you need me to treat that too?"

Shizuo shook his head no impatiently. "So how's the damn flea?"

The doctor sighed. "Three fractured ribs, one of which that was starting to push onto his lungs; lucky we took care of that early. Surprisingly he didn't have any other broken bones, but," Shinra frowned, not willing to continue, but he forced the words out, "he's torn up a little inside. I've managed to clean him up though…"

"Inside?"

"You know what I mean," the doctor muttered as Celty exited Izaya's room.

"_I'm going to sleep,"_ she typed in her PDA.

"Okay! Should I join you?" Shinra asked her, grinning, earning a punch in the stomach before the Dullahan exited the room, slamming the door.

"What about the other injuries?" Shizuo continued as the doctor tried to catch his breath.

"Well, besides random cuts here and there, many of the muscles in his legs and wrists are sprained pretty badly. And, judging by the bruises, I can guess that at one point they were trying to break his legs…"

Shizuo bit his lip.

Shinra sighed. "That being said, I'm curious."

"About what?" the bodyguard squirmed; he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the question.

"Well, the usual of course. How did he get caught? Who was the one who did this to him?" His eyes met Shizuo's. "Why did you save him?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Shizuo returned, a little flustered.

"Well, with what I've seen all these years, I thought that you would leave him there, if not finish the job yourself."

"What kind of bastard would leave someone in that state behind with all those monsters? And…" he paused, a little unsure.

"And?" Shinra urged, excited to see what kind of answer would come out of the other's mouth.

"He looked so," the half opened red eyes stared back at him in his mind as he searched for the right word, "broken."

At that moment, Shinra's phones rang, saving Shizuo from any further interrogation for the time being.

"Ah, finally found your number," the voice on the other side sighed in relief. "It's Namie."

"Oh!" Shinra remembered, looking at Shizuo and wondering if he should tell the girl what had happened to her employer. There's no doubt that Namie had called him for information on the informant. "What's up?" he managed as normally as he could as he switched to speakerphone, motioning to the bodyguard to stay silent.

"Izaya called me two days ago and told me to not go to work. I tried calling the office yesterday, but the phone was disconnected so…" she sighed. "Any idea where that bastard is?"

"You have no idea," Shizuo growled.

"Oh, Shizuo is there too? That's great."

Shinra frowned, wondering what she was going to ask next.

"I was wondering if you can accompany me to the office," the girl asked.

"Huh? Is it because the phone is disconnected?" Shinra asked her.

"Actually, when he called me, I heard some strange noises in the background; I know I'm being presumptuous, especially with Izaya, but I think someone was trying to break down his door."

"Are you serious?" Shizuo muttered. _'So that was that must be where…'_

"Anyways, I'll see you in front of his building in half an hour."

"Wait, Shizuo hasn't agreed yet," Shinra told her, giving the other a worried glance. "And it's…" He realized that the sun was already beginning to rise in the horizon.

"Then convince him," she continued, ignoring him. I'm sure you know what else is in that office." The phone clicked.

'_Celty's head…'_ Shinra realized, biting his lip. As much as he didn't want his beloved Dullahan to get her head back, he wasn't all too easy with the fact that now he didn't quite know where it was. He looked at Shizuo, ready to start the convincing.

"I'm going," the bodyguard told him before any words left his mouth.

Shizuo found Namie already waiting by the time he arrived, and the two walked quietly up the stairs to Izaya's high end apartment-office. They found the door intact, and Namie entered her spare key only to find the entire piece of wood suddenly falling inward; it had been neatly ripped off its hinges before placed carefully back into the frame.

"That's just great," Namie muttered as she stepped over the door. Shizuo followed quietly, placing the piece of wood back with a click. The office looked normal enough, seemingly untouched, and the bodyguard made himself comfortable on the sofa as the woman headed over to the shelf and started going through the books. He heard a sigh. "Tell Shinra it's gone," she said after a moment.

"What's gone?"

"He'll know," she told him as she unearthed a pile of folders and started going through them, setting one aside every now and then.

He couldn't fathom what had happened. Knowing Izaya, the flea would've never let his guard down, especially with his clients. However, he felt as if Namie was hiding something from him.

"Who could have…" he said after a while, breaking the silence.

"His new client."

"What?"

"We were contacted several weeks ago by someone from outside of Ikebukuro."

"The yakuza?"

She snorted. "I don't know. He didn't tell me much about the job. Judging by things, it must have gotten messy."

"But Izaya isn't…"

"Stupid? I know. I wonder what step he had taken without telling me," she told him. "Bastard, might as well call it the last step he takes if he never comes back." She finally finished sorting through the pile and threw the ones she needed into her bag.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Work at home. I still need money, you know. Help me carry these to my place, will you?"

"Fine fine," Shizuo grumbled. The lack of sleep was starting to get at him.

"_Where is he? Where did you take him? Tell me, wretched human…"_

'_What was that?'_ Shizuo blinked, shaking his head as Izaya's bookshelf came back to him. He decided he'd go straight home after this as he followed Namie out the room, placing the door back in its place.

Shinra can wait.

* * *

Hello! Thanks for the responses! Hm… right now I'm on a tight schedule so I'm going to jump between long and short chapters and hope that inspiration and motivation will keep the story running. I'll most likely be updating every few days unless I suddenly hit a wall and run out of ideas T.T Let's cross our fingers that that doesn't happen XD! (Listens to music.)

Ah, and sorry for any typos. I reread what I write like crazy but I always seem to miss one or two every now and then. Can you please tell me if you see any obvious ones? I'll fix them ASAP. Thanks!

As usual, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Shinra yawned, rubbing his eyes before putting his glasses on as he entered Izaya's room. "Morning… wait… I mean, afternoon…" he told the sleeping informant before checking the few monitors he had attached as a precaution. He suddenly noticed the twitch of a finger. 'He's waking up already?'

"Izaya?" he called the other, a little unsure whether or not he had just imagined the informant move. The heart monitor gave a lurch, jumping faster as Izaya regained consciousness. 'Oh!' Shinra hadn't mentally prepared himself to speak to the informant and tried to knock his sleepy brain back into shape as the beeps became faster.

The red eyes snapped open, wide and fearful for a moment before squinting at the sudden onslaught of light. They darted around wildly before finally spotting Shinra, and Izaya relaxed when he realized that he was in safe territory.

"Hello Shinra." To the doctor's surprise, the words came out naturally; they weren't shaky, frightened, or anything that should've came out from a normal person after what had happened.

'Well, he _is _Izaya…' Izaya wasn't what many called "normal" anyway.

"How are you feeling?" Shinra choose to ask; even though the informant sounded fine, it didn't mean he was. He had seen enough during his work with the underground.

"Well, I'm assuming that you put me on painkillers, so at the moment I'm perfectly fine." Izaya placed his hand tenderly on the bed, unsure, and tried to sit up, only to have Shinra catch him by grabbing his shoulder when his hand slipped.

"Don't overdo it," Shinra began to scold him when he realized the other had fallen silent, half trying to pull away from his grasp. He quickly released the informant, and Izaya let out a shaky breath.

'What was that?'

"Just press this button for now," Shinra told him, demonstrating, and the bed elevated the informant's back until he was sitting.

Izaya looked around his new range of vision for a moment before suddenly laughing. "It's a little hard to breathe."

'Was it my imagination?' Shinra thought. "That's because you have a few broken ribs," he told him.

"Ah, that explains it," he sang, looking at the various bandages and darkened bruises on his arms. "Anything else broken?"

"Just a lot of bruises, cuts, and sprains," Shinra told him. "You shouldn't be moving around for a while."

"You must have given me some very powerful painkillers," Izaya laughed. "Hm, maybe I can use them for…" he trailed off, muttering about the various lists of people he had been observing the past month.

"Izaya…" Shinra, unable to take the charade any longer, stopped him.

"Yes?" the informant asked innocently.

Shinra sighed. At the rate it was going, he decided he might as well be upfront about it. "Who did this?" he asked slowly, seriously.

"Who?" Izaya asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes, who." The doctor watched uneasily as the other frowned, seemingly caught in a discussion within his own mind.

"I can't tell you," he finally replied, grinning.

'Was he acting?'

"Why not?" Shinra urged.

"It's a matter of personal grudge."

Shinra snorted. "So you can have grudges too."

"I have a grudge against Shizu-chan," Izaya shrugged.

'Ah…' He had completely forgotten about the bodyguard. "About Shizuo, he was that one who saved you. He didn't tell me much, but he found you last night during one of his jobs." Shinra waited for the words to sink in.

Izaya looked away, a little contemplative. "Is that so…" he muttered, looking at his hands.

At that moment, they heard the ring of a doorbell. 'Speak of the devil.' Shinra stood up. "I'll be back."

The door closed, leaving the informant by himself. "Shizu-chan…."

.

"Where were you?" Shinra asked impatiently as soon as he opened the door.

"Hey, I was tired, so I went home to sleep," Shizuo grumbled. The last thing he needed was the doctor to dissect his head just because of a few sleep-deprived induced voices. "Namie said to tell you 'it's gone'."

"Huh?" Shinra suddenly remembered. "Ah, thanks."

"I'm assuming that you're not going to tell me what 'it' is." Shizuo grumbled, obviously still sleep-deprived. "How's the flea?"

'Oh, this might not be good.' Shinra bit his lip, going through his options. 'Maybe Shizuo will behave?'

"Uh, well, he's awake," he told the bodyguard.

"Oh good; I can kill him now."

'Nevermind. I take that back! I take that back!'

"Ah, I think it's better if you didn't see him," Shinra said nervously, trying to stand between Shizuo and Izaya's room door. However, Shizuo pushed past him effortlessly and stormed into the room.

"Shizu-chan!" the informant greeted him heartily to his surprise.

Shizuo blinked. Nothing seemed wrong with the flea other than the bandages, which he happened see witness every once in a blue moon whenever he managed to land a punch. Nothing, at least in that simple greeting, seemed off, and Shizuo wondered if this was exactly why Shinra didn't want him seeing Izaya now. The bodyguard gritted his teeth, not guaranteeing to himself or Shinra that the flea was going to get out of this conversation alive if this kept up.

"_Go on. Now's your chance."_

'Damn voice…' Shizuo thought, starting to get even more annoyed than he already was, and stayed where he was, shutting the door in front of Shinra.

"Uh… Shizuo?" the doctor called behind the door.

"To what do I owe the honor?" Izaya continued when the other didn't speak. "I'd hate to keep you away from your precious job."

"_Oh, not even a thank you? See, the damn human's hopeless. You should just…"_

"Shut up already!" Shizuo yelled, not sure if he was directing that comment to the voice or the informant.

"I only asked about your job so far," Izaya returned with a smug grin on his face. "Or… are you more concerned about what you saw? Were you that surprised to see me like that?"

'Of course I was surprised.'

"Did the sight of me being okay render you speechless? Say something, Shizu-chan."

'I'm trying to, if you'd just shut up.'

"Did you feel sorry for me? Did you not know it was me? Were you turned on?"

'W-what?'

"I don't understand why you saved me, Shizu-chan."

'I don't know either!'

"_Look at that invitation," _the voice laughed.

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya frowned when he didn't get a response.

Snapping, Shizuo stormed over to the bed and grabbed the other's collar, hoisting him several inches into the air. Izaya froze, and the bodyguard could almost feel the satisfying pain the other most likely felt from the pressure the action put on his wounds.

"What? No witty comebacks now?" he taunted, reveling in the moment, his mind blinded by fury at both the stupid voice and the annoying flea as the other's breathing began to turn into gasps. A bandaged hand grasped Shizuo's weakly, trying to push him away, and the bodyguard saw wide eyes, different from the half-closed red ones he'd witnessed last night, but the same fear penetrated into his skin.

"Shizuo!" Shinra yelled when he finally got the door open.

"Tch, you got off easy," Shizuo told him as he half threw him back onto the bed, earning a series of coughs from the other. To his surprise, upon hitting the bed, Izaya suddenly drew up his legs, burying his face into his knees as he curled into a ball.

"Oh! Izaya! Don't do that! You'll rip open…" Shinra ran over to the informant, trying to coax him as Shizuo looked on, confused.

"Oh sheesh," the doctor exclaimed after a few moments before running out of the room, leaving Shizuo alone with the informant.

"Izaya?" he asked, hand outstretched uncertainly. He could see the other trembling. 'Why did I… Why wasn't I able to speak?'

The voice suddenly returned, laughing. _"Look at him! So pathetic… Hit him! Hit him! Let's see what other expressions he'll make!" _it urged. _"So exciting, you humans!"_

Shizuo froze, certain now that it was definitely not his own voice. 'Go away!' he snapped at it, frustrated at all the commotion it was causing in his head. However, the voice only laughed harder. _"You can't possibly get rid of me. Your mind's too weak, human."_ Shinra returned with a needle in his hand. _"Ah, found this one. I suppose I'll leave you alone for now. I have work to do."_

The doctor ran over to Izaya and injected the informant before throwing the needle aside and catching the other as he suddenly shuddered and relaxed.

"What did you do?" Shizuo asked as Shinra carefully moved Izaya back into a sleeping position and adjusted the bed.

"Sedatives," the doctor responded, shrugging, as he finished his work. "Let's talk outside."

Shizuo nodded, following him.

"Sheesh," Shinra sighed as he exited the room. "I thought something was up."

"Eh?"

"Post-traumatic stress disorder. From what I've seen, I think another person's touch is the trigger."

"Could've told me…" he grumbled.

"Well you had to storm in before I had a chance to say anything!" Shinra said, frowning. "Besides, I wasn't sure myself. You sure diagnosed him nicely," he sighed.

"Tch…" Shizuo didn't like how this was turning out. How was he supposed to kill the flea if he couldn't touch the bastard without setting off an attack? Not to mention, he had no idea what had happened earlier in his own head back inside that room. "Now what?"

"Good question," Shinra shrugged. "I suppose we'll have to wait. It's only the first day you know… Wait, where are you going?" he asked when he realized Shizuo was heading towards the front door.

"Work," the bodyguard replied before closing the door. All this talk of disorders and tranquil fleas was pissing him off to no end. The debtors were going to have one hell of a day.

.

Shizuo gave the door a kick and watched as it fell effortlessly, hitting the floor with a thump. He guessed that security would be coming soon, but whatever.

"_Do you see it? Its right there, stupid. The phone. The phone."_

He spotted the object not too far away on the table with the computers and mismatched board game and picked it up, examining it.

"_Okay, now hurry up and give it to him already. Drop it in the mailbox."_

.

Izaya woke up to an empty room, devoid of any doctors or bodyguards. 'What happened?' He looked around, frowning. He remembered Shizuo coming in and everything beyond that was… He shrugged, pressing the button to bring his bed up. "Yay food," he hummed when he saw the tray Shinra had left for him and began eating hungrily. 'Shinra's cooking? No… it doesn't taste like he stuck any chemicals in it; must be Celty's,' he thought, content that it wasn't store-bought. 'It's a little bland hm…'

The sound of ringing made him look to the other bedside table, and he picked up the object carefully, realizing it was his own phone. "Eh? Did Celty get this for me?" He flipped it open before frowning at the number. He brought the phone to his ear, placing the tray of food back onto to the table, just in case.

"You called…"

"Ah, you sound well. Did you like my present?" the voice on the other end laughed.

"Not really. You're going to have to try better than that," Izaya told him.

"Putting on a strong front, huh? Well, even the strongest human can be broken easily. Now, if you keep on insisting on not telling me where my beloved is…"

He heard static on the other end before Namie's voice suddenly yelled, "What do you think you're doing? Get away from me!"

"Namie…"

"You know, I've been wondering, do I find it more entertaining to kill a human after I'm done with them? Or should I torture them first and then kill them? I can't decide." He sighed. "Then again, it won't matter anymore once I find my beloved. Then, you will all die, cursed little city."

"Stay away from my humans!" Izaya snapped, trying to get out of his bed. A pain in his side made him double over, gasping.

The voice on the other side laughed at the informant's pained groans. "Your humans? You should know well enough how much I detest you little insects."

The informant heard Namie scream.

"Hm… this one doesn't know. Worthless." Izaya heard another scream and the sound of the swing of a scythe. "You know, I can find my beloved quite easily now, but I want you to tell me. I want you to suffer." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't think I'm done with you yet, Izaya Orihara." The phone clicked.

Izaya stared at the object, still trying to catch his breath, a hand on the burning pain on his chest, before he tossed it aside.

"Shinra! Shinra!"

* * *

Hello! Ah, I'm hoping to play around with Izaya's happy reasoning a lot in the next chapter so fear not! He's still an awesome "lover" of ningen haha. And Shizuo… is he going crazy? Hm… Maybe yes maybe no? See you again in a few days!

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Shinra knocked cautiously before opening the door, finding Izaya staring at the cellphone in his hands, deep in thought. The informant silently looked up when the doctor came in, eyes following him carefully throughout his trek to the bed.

"She's in critical condition in the hospital. From the looks of it, I think she'll pull through, but the recovery will take a while," Shinra told him.

"She's a tough one," Izaya replied, grinning. "I always had to check every now and then if she poisoned my tea."

The doctor sighed and pulled over a chair, positioning himself at the side of the bed.

"Yes?" Izaya asked him. Shinra guessed that the other had already accurately predicted all the questions that were dying to pop out of his mouth at the moment.

"You're still not going to tell me?" he asked the informant.

"He hates humans," Izaya said simply, returning to his phone.

"That's it?" Shinra sighed. "Come on, Izaya. What does he want from you? I know he took Celty's head already."

Izaya turned towards him a little too fast. "How?"

"Uh… well… Namie went to your office earlier. She managed to get my number."

"She did, huh? I told her not to go…" he said, shaking his head. "Did she give you my phone too?"

"Actually, I found it in my mailbox," Shinra said, shrugging.

"Hm…"

"Izaya… why…"

"Like I'd ever let anyone kill humans like that," he said, closing his eyes. "You can't play with someone who's dead. And after he gets the last piece of the puzzle, he'll kill everyone in this city as revenge. What a stupid reason. Just like a human. Predictable," he finished acidly.

"Predictable?" Shinra repeated slowly, confused. 'He knew what was going to happen to him?'

Izaya fell silent at that, twirling the phone around in his hand. "I knew he was coming." He stopped, now just stroking the smooth cover of the device, trying to pick out the right words. "Did you ever hear of that feeling? The one where you know something's going to happen, but you're… you're powerless to do anything about it?"

Shinra flinched at that and took the opportunity to prod just a little more. "Izaya, what exactly does he want?"

The informant sighed. "I guess at this point it doesn't matter, since he'll find out eventually." He flipped open the phone, returning to the game he was playing. "He wants Celty. All of her." The room suddenly erupted into music when Izaya took the high score. "But I'm not going to let him," he hummed.

.

Shizuo found himself in the middle of a dark alley, empty of all people except for one man standing in front of him, grinning. However, besides that man's expression, for some reason he couldn't quite make out the other's feathers.

'A dream?'

The bodyguard got to his feet, ready to force answers from the stranger if need be of how he had ended up in this secluded place after leaving Shinra's apartment. However, before he was able to do anything, the man spoke, the grin still plastered on his face.

"_Ah, Shizuo Heiwajima, we meet at last. I'm so happy; I was glad I choose to take your mind instead of the girl's. Being able to control only one thing at a time does have its fun. So many choices choices choices…" _the man sang as Shizuo instantly recognized the same voice that had been tormenting him ever since he entered Izaya's damn apartment.

"Go to hell!" Shizuo yelled, hurling the nearest object at the man: a mailbox. The metal piece smashed into the other's face, and, to the bodyguard's horror, knocked his head clean off before colliding with the wall.

However, the body stayed where it was, motionless, until it suddenly shook its headless neck.

'He's like Celty!'

The voice laughed in his head. _"Ah, you know of my beloved? I am searching for her, little human, and I was hoping your informant… friend… would help me find her."_ The body walked over to where its head lay and picked it up, making it face Shizuo. Its mouth started moving, and the voice returned to where the man stood. _"Unless of course… you'd direct me to her yourself?"_

"What do you want with Celty?" Shizuo growled, eyeing the nearest lamppost as his next weapon.

"_I merely want to reunite my beloved with her head."_ The head laughed. _"But, I do really wish that that flea would tell me himself. I am a client, after all."_

Shizuo flinched at the usage of his own name for Izaya.

"_Would you help me get the informant to honor our deal?"_

"Why should I help you?" he snapped.

"_Because we both want the same thing."_

"And what would that be?"

"_The death of Izaya Orihara."_

"Wait, I…"

"_Don't lie to yourself, insect."_

Shizuo woke with a start, hitting his head on something hard before several screams and the shuffling of feet told him a little about where he was: under a park bench. Growling, he got out from where he had been sleeping and looked around. 'What the… How'd I get there?'

.

"How did he get Namie's home address? She must have gone back to my office…" Izaya was muttering to himself, scrolling absentmindedly through the numbers on his cellphone, when the door opened.

"Don't do anything stupid," Shinra whispered to Shizuo before leaving the two alone.

"Hello, Shizu-chan!" Izaya greeted him with a wide grin. "Did you miss me that much, or are you here to attack me again?"

"Shut it," the bodyguard snapped as he walked up to the bed.

Shizuo looked the informant over carefully; during his first visit the voice had been distracting him so much, he hadn't fully taken in the bandages around Izaya's head, his wrists, the scattered bruises on his arms, face, the ring shaped red marks on where his neck was exposed under his shirt... The informant watched him like a cat, eyes following his every movement. The usual smugness was there, of course, but something was off. Something… he saw the slightest hint of fear under all those layers of the informant he was accustomed to chasing after all these past years.

'You did this to him…' he thought, remembering the voice.

"Shizu-chan," Izaya whined, impatient at the silence. "Say something already; I'm bored," he sang.

"I said shut it, damn flea!" Shizuo snapped, and he threw a punch right at Izaya's face, stopping inches from the informant's nose. Izaya stayed where he was, eyes squeezed shut and shoulders trembling.

"The normal you would have dodged," Shizuo growled as the informant opened an eye cautiously to see why the blow hadn't connected.

"Well, I'm not exactly what you'd call 'normal' right now," the informant snapped, surprising Shizuo, still staring at the fist and trying the best he can to not move away from it. The bodyguard lowered his hand, frowning. Izaya had gotten mad. Had he ever seen him mad? He fought with himself on whether or not he should tell the informant about the voice, the new Dullahan. Maybe Izaya would call him crazy, and then he'd finally have a reason to beat the crap out of him. Or, better yet, maybe the informant would know what it was.

"Izaya, I think…"

At that moment, a knock on the door interrupted them, and Celty walked in with a tray.

Shizuo froze, staring at her as if he had never seen a headless woman in a black suit in his life.

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya asked nervously, immediately spotting the change in the bodyguard.

"_She doesn't have a head…"_ the voice came back.

'No wait!' Shizuo told it, panicking. He didn't understand a lot of things, but he did know that it was in his best interest to not let that other Dullahan he had met in his dreams find Celty.

"_Where are you?"_ the voice demanded.

'Shut up!'

"_Tell me, insect! Where are you?"_ it hissed.

"Shut up!" Shizuo yelled, making both Izaya and Celty jump as he ran out of the room. A slam indicated he had left the apartment.

"_What happened?"_ Celty typed on her PDA after putting the tray down on the table.

"I don't know," Izaya pouted, returning to his normal disposition despite the moment of shock. "I haven't even started teasing him yet."

She shook her head and began to leave before stopping, hesitating. She turned back to Izaya and began typing in her PDA again before showing the device to the informant.

"_Shinra told me what happened."_

The informant smiled innocently. "He did, didn't he?"

"_So you had my head all this time."_

He shrugged. "What if I did? It's not like you can reattach a soul just like that."

She pondered that statement for a moment before typing again. _"What were you going to do with it?"_

"Wake it up," he answered truthfully.

"_How?"_

He chuckled, picking up the cup of tea on the tray. "Does it matter? I don't have your head anymore, and that old plan's long screwed over after Kida left."

They stayed in silence for a moment as Izaya sipped on his tea and Celty thought his words over carefully. She finally began typing in her PDA again before bringing it to Izaya's eye level.

"_Why?"_

The informant blinked at the device, almost laughing that in all the time he had given her, she had only entered this one simple word. "Why?" he repeated, now really laughing. "Because I love humans. I want to see their reactions to little things like this."

"_Little? You think playing around with my head is a little thing?"_

"It's not like it's attached to you anymore. By now, your two minds are probably worlds apart. Like Shinra said, reattaching it might…"

She hit him across the face.

"_You're despicable."_ She left without making sure that he had even seen that message, slamming the door behind her.

.

"_Shizuo Heiwajima…"_

"Shut up already!" Shizuo yelled, making a few of the people around him run off in a panic.

"_I lost myself for a moment there; I had forgotten how stunning my beloved was. I change my mind about having that flea tell me. Now, I don't have a complete understanding of the things that happen around you. If you'd just tell me where you were, I'd…"_

"I said leave me alone!" He could feel the other's frustration, as well as it had tried to hide it. He ran into a nearby alley to escape the bustling afternoon crowd, lest he decide to pick up a vending machine and hurl it into them for making so much noise.

"_You're turning into a softy. Unpredictable, this human…"_

"Well, you're just like Izaya," he retorted.

The voice was silent for a moment before responding. _"How so? I do not love humans. In fact, I'd be pleased if you would all just disappear from this world."_

"Well, I'd be thrilled if you'd just disappear from my head."

The Dullahan laughed. "_Well you're going to need a much stronger mind to do that, trash. You want to protect the flea even after what's he done? I'll show you…" _The voice suddenly became silent.

Meanwhile, back in his room at Shinra's apartment Izaya tried to compose himself, but the pain on his cheek where Celty had punched him still rang throughout his body. He remembered hands, everywhere, and pain from punches in places that were already bruised. He had kicked one of them only for something hard, a metal pipe he had thought, to come back at his legs.

'No… I…' He put a hand up to his head, breathing hard, as he searched for something to distract himself from all the images, anything.

'Shizu-chan… Why did he run off like that earlier?' he tried asking himself, but he still remembered… 'Wait, why did he run out like that?' Izaya came back into reality with the realization. He tried to calm his breathing and clear his mind in an attempt to plan out his next action. If what he suspected was true, then sitting here and doing nothing would be like waiting in front of a time bomb.

Unable to yell, he finally managed to grab his phone and dialed Shinra's number despite the doctor being in the other room.

"Hello? Izaya? What's wrong?"

"Did Shizu-chan ever go to my office?" he asked, a little out of breath.

"Uh, well he went with Namie the morning after he brought you here. Why?"

Izaya had hung up.

* * *

Hello! Ah, I would've updated yesterday, but I had to study for my final. Let's see, next update will probably be sometime Monday; my weekend's a little full. See you then!

I still haven't decided how the Dullahan dude should look like…

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Should be here somewhere," Izaya muttered impatiently to himself as he went through the lone drawer in the room. "Ah found it!" He removed a set of clothes from the mess and limped over to his bed before struggling to change. "Good thing I hid them here last time," he hummed to himself as he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped off his pajamas.

However, putting on his normal pants, shirt, and jacket was a different story. Thanks to the painkillers, he didn't feel the burn, but his limbs just wouldn't move the way he wanted them to. Grumbling in annoyance, Izaya finally got his jacket on and after briefly looking himself over in the bathroom mirror, pulled his fur-rimmed hood over his head to hide the bandages.

"Let's see, what else do I need?" He looked around the room and promptly picked up the bottle of pills on the table, pocketing it carefully along with his cellphone. Grinning at his work, he turned to leave, stowing as carefully as he could through the apartment before closing the front door with a click.

.

Shizuo stormed down the hallway towards Shinra's apartment door, determined to meet with the informant now that he knew what the damned voice in his head wanted from him. For the moment, it was quiet, and he grinned at that, thinking that he had finally somehow managed to stifle the Dullahan's invasion of his mind. If not, then now was the best time to visit the flea, since the voice wasn't there to bother him. He knocked impatiently before hearing the shuffling of feet running around the house like a confused animal.

Clenching his fist and trying not to take the entire door out, Shizuo knocked again, harder, and finally got the doctor's attention. The footsteps redirected towards the bodyguard, and Shinra opened the door, looking quite distressed.

"Izaya's run away!" he exclaimed as soon as he saw Shizuo. "I went in to check on him this morning, but he wasn't there."

"Run… away?" The bodyguard just couldn't put that into his head. 'Run away? What the…'

"And he's not picking up his cellphone either…" Shinra continued in frustration.

"_Run away, huh?"_ Shizuo cursed out loud when he heard it, making Shinra step back a little.

'Damn voice! Go away!' he told it.

"Um… are you okay?" the doctor asked, surprised that the other had gotten mad just because the informant wasn't there. In fact, he was still quite confused at why the bodyguard would even visit Izaya this much, unless he was missing something in his collection of observations of the two.

"Where's Celty?" Shizuo almost brought a hand up to his mouth, surprised. 'Wait, why did I ask that?'

Shinra, on the other hand, didn't catch the out of place air of the question. "Huh? Oh, she went out already without telling me…" He sighed, shaking his head, "I told her to be careful but…"

Shizuo had left.

"Shizuo?" The doctor looked down the hallway, frowning, but found no one. "Wow, he's gotten fast," he chuckled before coming to a realization, connecting the brief conversation with Izaya the night before on the phone with everything that had happened up till now. "Wait… Why did he ask about Celty?"

.

"Hello," Izaya said casually to the two, making Anri frown and Mikado look away uncomfortably.

"Uh… hello…" Mikado greeted him unwillingly when his companion didn't say anything.

"Glad to see you're doing well," the informant continued, grinning.

"What do you want?" Anri asked him briskly, wondering whether or not now would be a good time to cut the informant and be done with it. But, something was off, and she knew it. Izaya wasn't moving around as much as he usually did when talking to them, and he had pulled the hood of his jacket low, almost over his eyes.

"Actually, I have a favor to ask of you, Anri. Or, should I say… Sai…"

"Enough!" she interrupted him before turning to Mikado. "Sorry, can you go on ahead? I'll catch up as soon as were done talking."

"But…"

"I'll be okay," she told him. "Please, I don't want you to see this."

"If you say so," he nodded before walking off, hoping that Anri wouldn't do anything high profile.

In a flash the sword was drawn and pointed at the base of Izaya's neck. "What do you really want?" she asked him, glaring at the informant through her glasses.

"Ah… Saika…" he said, touching the blade. "The legendary blade with the ability to cut souls apart…"

She swung at him, causing the informant to jump back. He landed a little wobbly and straightened himself, grinning.

"Hasty aren't we?" he chuckled.

She swung again, hitting air as Izaya dodged, but this time, to her surprise, he stumbled even more and finally fell, his hood slipping off in the process. She gasped at the bandage on his head and the bruises littered on his face and peeping out from under his v-neck shirt.

"What happened to you?" she asked as she pointed her sword at him, just in case.

"Stuff," he shrugged. "Now as much as I don't like your sword stealing away my humans, it's the only thing that can kill a Dullahan."

Her eyes narrowed; she might have to cut him after all. "You're going after Celty?"

Izaya burst out laughing, and she inched her sword closer to him threateningly, demanding answers as he struggled to catch his breath. "Celty? Why would I want to kill her? She's much too fun to play with."

"Then…"

"Another Dullahan. Black hair, pale eyes, the kind of guy many of you girls would go for. Oh, but his head pops off if you knock it hard enough. Pop!" he imitated the sound before twirling his hands. "Then roll roll roll… Oh, and he's crazy."

"As crazy as you?" she returned.

He chuckled as he stood up slowly, the sleeve of his jacket moving upward just a little to reveal even more bandages. "We have a few very deep disagreements on how humans should be treated." He turned around to leave. "Well, just keep an eye out! Wouldn't want Ikebukuro to disappear now, would we?"

"And why would Ikebukuro disappear because of this new Dullahan?" she asked after him.

Izaya stopped, back still facing the girl. "Hm… I really don't know. Maybe not the city itself, but the humans… Ah, I'm certain he'll figure out something in that crazy mind of his."

Anri bit her lip. Coming from Izaya, anything could be either true or false; nothing was definite. She tried anyway. "And how do I find this Dullahan? You're description is very vague."

Izaya shrugged. "Wait. Or, if you're that impatient, you can give every man you see a little shove over the head." He laughed at the thought. "Just a suggestion. I'll contact you soon, probably."

Anri watched as he walked slowly away before lowering her sword, contemplating what he had just said. 'Another Dullahan…'

.

"_She's gone out, huh? Now that I know how she looks like without her head, it should be easy to find her…"_ the voice pondered to itself as Shizuo sat stubbornly on the park bench, refusing to go anywhere that would otherwise give the voice any more information._ "Should I make you look for her? Ah, no, I have a better idea." _It laughed.

"Would you shut up already," Shizuo snapped at it, making it laugh even harder.

"_I've already told you, you can't get rid of me if your mind is weak."_

"I'm not fucking weak!" he yelled, making a few birds fly out of the trees into the orange sunset.

"_Oh?"_ Shizuo did not like the way the voice had said that. _"Let me show you just how weak you are, human…"_ The park suddenly blurred over, and Shizuo made another move to yell only to find his own voice silent.

"_Find the informant for me will you?"_ the voice commanded as Shizuo began walking, his steps a little uneven and his own mind trapped inside his skull.

.

"Hello? Izaya?" Shinra's panicked voice answered.

"Hello!" Izaya greeted him merrily as if nothing had happened.

"Where are you? Why didn't you pick up your phone?"

"Ah, I accidentally left it on silent! Sorry!" the informant told his friend, although he didn't quite sound apologetic.

Shinra sighed, and Izaya could almost imagine the doctor shaking his head. "You took the painkillers with you right? Did you remember to take them?"

"Huh?"

"You're supposed to take two every eight hours!"

"Oh…" So that's why his sides, legs, and everywhere else were starting to ache.

"Anyways, are you coming back yet?"

"Why?" he asked. He laughed when Shinra didn't answer, "I'm joking! I'm joking!"

The doctor's voice lowered solemnly, "Celty isn't back yet."

"Ah, she goes out a lot on her own anyway."

"True, but Shizuo came over earlier today, and he asked about Celty out of the blue."

It was Izaya's turn to fall silent. "Where is he now?" he asked after a moment.

"I don't know; he just suddenly left right after I told him she went out."

"Ah, I'm coming back now. Try to contact Celty."

"Got it." The phone clicked.

Izaya walked a little more before finally sighing and turning into a nearby alley, deciding that he'd probably not make it back without the medicine. He pulled out the bottle of painkillers, eyeing it carefully before taking out two pills. 'Guess I have to take it without water,' he concluded, managing to swallow both. He continued to move towards Shinra's apartment complex through the quiet alleys, but the pain wouldn't subside; instead, it grew almost exponentially within two buildings.

He finally stopped, holding his side tenderly, trying to catch his breath after all the moving around. "Ah, do painkillers really take this long to work?"

He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes as he waited for the medicine to take effect. "Shit, should've taken them earlier…" He slid to the ground, barely making out his heartbeat against his burning chest and the unbearable soreness in his legs.

"_So, my dear Namie, don't come to work until I call you."_

"_Wait, what's going on…" He hung up just as the door gave way and fell to the ground before suddenly stopping, held up by shadows._

"_Welcome, Alastair," he greeted the Dullahan as the humanoid entered the room, replacing the door behind him with a flick of a finger._

"_You do realize the situation you've put yourself in, right?" the other growled, trembling so much in anger that Izaya wondered if his head would really fall off. The informant wondered airily how it'd look, rolling around with that mass of semi-long silky black hair. "Where is she?"_

_Izaya shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_You cretin!" He grabbed Izaya by the collar and shoved him against the bookcase, causing a few of the books to tumble to the floor. _

"_Oh…" Izaya cursed to himself that he just had to hit that part of the bookshelf._

"_My beloved…" the Dullahan whispered when he saw the head, before turning back to Izaya. "You had her all along. Why didn't you give her to me?"_

"_Don't you know the answer?" the informant answered, smiling. "If I give her back, you'll destroy Ikebukuro, and I love Ikebukuro. Nice place."_

"_Whatever you do, I will still destroy this city." He violently hurled the informant into the floor before delivering a swift kick to his stomach, making Izaya gasp for air as his diaphragm suddenly emptied. Before the informant could crawl away, the Dullahan picked him up again, this time by his hair, forcing him to look him straight in the eye. "We have similar minds, so I'll give you one more chance. Where is my beloved's body?"he snarled, his pupils almost slits._

_Izaya brandished a knife and swung at the arm, making the Dullahan drop him. "Similar? What a joke!" he smirked. Alastair knocked the blade away and delivered another kick to the informant's chest. This time, Izaya landed against the table and hoped in the back of his mind that his spine hadn't cracked yet. He didn't hear the Dullahan, and it wasn't long before he began to feel the prodding against the edge of his mind._

"_You… can mind control people?" Izaya asked, a little surprised._

"_Of course." Alastair kicked the informant again just for the heck of it. "Let me in already."_

_Izaya coughed, tasting the metallic flavor of blood, and forced out a chuckle. "Try me."_

_He fought with the Dullahan's presence, sealing his mind from the other. He felt Alastair's anger as it smashed against his defenses uselessly until it expanded and covered him. Then, pain, an excruciating headache took over. He could hear himself screaming, but he held on, just barely making out the frustrated expression of the Dullahan. He finally managed to pick up the nearest fallen book and hurl it at Alastair head, hitting the target straight on. The Dullahan's head popped out and fell to the floor with the book, yelling in anger as Izaya suddenly felt the presence lift from his mind._

_Leaving his head alone, the Dullahan kicked the informant again in the chest, and a final crack signified the end of his pain tolerance. Izaya watched as Alastair's feet moved over to where his head had rolled and picked it up, verbally cursing him to no end. Then, all was black. _

_Izaya smiled to himself in the darkness. It was okay. The Dullahan hadn't gotten what he wanted and his frustrated expression was worth it. He'd figure out what to do when he woke up. Saika might be a good option. He was a Dullahan after all. Alastair still needed him to find the rest of Celty, so he wouldn't kill him, yet. Izaya had counted on that. For now, he had collected a few pieces of valuable information: he had finally confirmed that the strange client on the phone was indeed a Dullahan, and in addition to Celty's powers, this one could control minds. But it couldn't control his. That was a nice thing to know. He admitted to himself that he really didn't expect this one to be this violent though, given Celty's temperament, but he laughed at that too. The Dullahans were just like humans after all…_

_Izaya felt his consciousness finally coming back, accompanied by the most uncomfortable feeling of his wrists being handcuffed behind him and a strange coldness. He cautiously opened an eye and for the first moment in his life, he felt fear._

Izaya came back into reality, sighing that now even his dreams had to be filled with distasteful memories of a few days prior. He stood up painlessly, inspecting his numb legs and chest. 'It's okay; I'll erase all of that when this is over. It'll be like before,' he told himself shakily before he suddenly realized that the sound of footsteps was headed his way.

"_Found you," _Shizuo growled, not even sure now in his hazy mind if it was his own voice that spoke.

.

"Found you."

Celty turned around before taking a step back in surprise and summoning her scythe. The head the man held under his right arm grinned as the Dullahan slowly placed his own head back onto his neck before carefully unearthing Celty's from a bag, holding it out to her with his two hands like an offering.

"My dearest…" Alastair smiled. "Let's take our revenge on this cursed city, together."

The eyes of the head he held snapped open.

* * *

Hello! Ah, this weather makes me so sleepy… Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter!

By the way, I'm writing Alastair with Luka Crosszeria in mind. Thanks for the recommendation, Chibi!

Minna-san, thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Celty kept her scythe pointed at the Dullahan, watching him carefully to see what he would do next, but he remained where he was, his smile only widening when he realized that her head had woken up.

"Cel…ty…" the head said slowly, never once tearing her gaze away from the black biker. It felt foreign, her name uttered on this unused tongue. She blinked as life returned to her and finally realized that no connection wound around them any longer. Her body was as far away from her as the Dullahan holding her. "Celty," she said again, the sound of desperation in her voice.

Celty hesitated when she realized that her head had woken and lowered her scythe as she slowly reached for her head.

"You must miss each other, don't you?" Alastair whispered tenderly. The gloved hand came nearer. "Look at what these humans have done."

Celty stopped, realizing who exactly it was offering her the head, and at the same moment, her PDA went off. She looked at the caller curiously. 'Shinra…'

She picked it up, not accustomed to the doctor calling her since she couldn't reply back to him.

"Celty…" Alastair began, starting to get impatient.

"Celty! Please come back now! I don't know what Izaya said to you, but don't go with the Dullahan! I know, that after all that happened, you might hate me somewhere deep in your heart, but I still…"

"Celty," Alastair repeated, this time more firmly.

"Celty… please don't go…" She wasn't accustomed to the doctor sounding this desperate and looked at her phone, realizing that she had a load of missed messages, probably sent as she was cruising on her motorcycle horse. She looked back at the Dullahan, who was still eyeing her expectantly, arm outstretched. She typed on her PDA and showed it to her head, not the man.

"_Sorry. I'll come back for you."_

Before Alastair could react, she jumped back on her bike and started driving away. A web of shadows exploded after her, missing her by inches as she turned the corner and disappeared.

Alastair looked on in incredulity, cursing, before turning back to the head in his arms. She had fallen back asleep.

"You too? What have they done to you, Celty? What emotion is so strong that you'd understand your estranged body like this?" He gritted his teeth as he carefully pulled the bag back over the head before storming away. "I'll show you humans… Shizuo!"

.

"Shizu-chan, what are you…" Izaya said nervously as he tried to back away only to find the wall behind him. He willed his legs to run, and they did, in an awkward stumble. He managed a few steps before the bodyguard suddenly grabbed him and pinned him roughly to the wall. Izaya saw stars from the impact as he felt the other began to pull at his clothes.

"Shi…" Izaya gasped, trying to yell, but an onslaught of memories from those two days broke through his mental block, invading his mind. He felt hands, many pairs of them, pain, darkness. "Shi…" he tried again, but his voice caught and he shuddered, trying to claw his way out. 'Someone…' _Laughter, a kick, hands pinning him to the table…_

He felt a hand pull his zipper down and cold air on his exposed stomach as Shizuo began working his way both ways. _The pain burning into him, inside of him, the hand-cuffs biting into his skin as he struggled with all his strength to break them despite knowing that he can't…_

'Someone…' His jacket fell to the floor, and his shirt was already nearing his shoulders. If Shizuo managed to pull the garment over his head, his arms would be trapped. A hand grabbed the top of his pants.

"Shizuo!" he finally yelled. That did the trick.

The bodyguard stopped and blinked. "What?" His brain processed the scene: one hand on the informant's belt, zipper already undone, one hand about to pull the shirt off Izaya, pinned against the wall, trembling uncontrollably under him, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

He let go in surprise, and Izaya crumpled into a heap on the floor, curling into ball, still shaking.

"I-Izaya?" Shizuo crouched down, trying his best not to pull the other's arm away from his knees. However, the only response he got was the sound of heavy breathing and then suddenly, an isolated half sob half choking sound.

"Izaya…" he tried again, this time reaching out to gently move Izaya's hand away, but the informant flinched away.

Shizuo bit his lip. What on earth had made him do that? He suddenly remembered the voice, and as if he had summoned it, it spoke again. _"Look at him, just like any other human,"_ it taunted. _"Just think, if you had gone through with it, he'd be even more…"_

'Shut up,' Shizuo told it.

It laughed. _"What are you talking about? You wanted to see him suffer right? Look at what I have done for you."_

'I don't need you. Go to hell!'

"_Try me."_

'Go to hell!' he yelled again in his head, all his fury directed at the voice.

Then, suddenly, he was in the middle of an empty space; the only other occupant was the Dullahan.

"_Ah… interesting… Attacking me in your own mind huh?"_

Shizuo didn't say anything as he stormed right up to the other and delivered a well placed punch right to the Dullahan's head, sending it flying into the darkness, before uprooting the nearest street sign. He swung it, the thin metal plate passing cleanly through the body before it shuddered and fell into two pieces, disintegrating back into shadow.

He found himself back in the alley, and it echoed, one last time, faint and distant, _"I'm surprised… you of all humans…"_

He suddenly felt freer, as if a heavy constricting chain had been taken out of his head. Sighing, he picked up the informant's coat and draped it around Izaya, pulling him into a warm bear hug.

'He's freezing…'

He felt the other tense even more, if that was possible, under him, and the sobs didn't stop.

"Izaya…" Shizuo whispered, trying to calm the man down. "Izaya… It's okay… I won't hurt you… Izaya…" He sighed, not accustomed to talking softly to the flea. "Come on, snap out of it!"

Wide red eyes, lined with tears, stared back at him, and Shizuo stared back, amazed that his outburst had done the trick. The eyes closed.

.

"What happened?" Shinra exclaimed when he opened the door, a phone still in his hand, the words, "I'm coming back," written across the screen.

"Uh… stuff… Can you check if anything broke again?" Shizuo answered as he carried Izaya into the house.

"Sheesh…" Shinra closed the door. "Can you put him on the bed?" He followed the bodyguard to the bedroom, opening the door for the two of them and turning on the lights. "Did he get attacked again?"

Shizuo bit his lip as he slowly lowered the informant onto the bed. "That damn thing controlled me."

"The Dullahan was really controlling you?" The doctor looked at the bodyguard uneasily before returning to Izaya and noticed the state of the informant's cloths, especially his zipper. "Shizuo…"

"Hey I didn't go that far, okay!" Shizuo exploded.

"He's out cold though," Shinra pointed out, checking Izaya's pulse.

"Well he had another attack!" the bodyguard continued, flustered. "I tried to snap him out of it, and he fucking fainted on me! Had to carry the damn flea all the way back here!"

"I can see that…" He brought the stethoscope over the informant's lungs, listened for a few seconds, and finally looked at Shizuo, making sure to meet him straight in the eyes. He had to know now. "What happened with the Dullahan?"

"I kicked him out of my mind."

"Are you sure?"

Shizuo closed his eyes, sighing. "Yeah, I'm sure."

The front door opened, and Shinra quickly went out of the room to see if it was Celty, leaving Shizuo alone with Izaya.

He heard Shinra's ecstatic, "Celty!" through the door and turned back to the informant, who was breathing normally at the moment and sleeping as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Damn you, flea," he muttered, nudging the informant's cheek half-heartedly with his fist. "Why do you have to look so fucking helpless? I can't kill you like this." He sat on the edge of the bed, waiting "patiently" for Shinra to return, as a wave of thoughts ran through his mind, and he tried to pick through his memories for all the times the informant had framed him for some crime, crashed a truck into him, or successful cut him with one of his many knives. Everything came, but the anger just wouldn't roar at the moment. It would start and burn for few seconds, and then he'd see the broken man next to him.

He finally sighed, giving up on his attempt to get mad at the sleeping informant. "Hurry up and get better already."

* * *

Hello! Hm… what will Alastair-san do next?

The weather's too wonderful; all I do is sleep, sleep, and sleep some more… I confess. I hope to finish this in 2 weeks. T.T I'm not sure about my internet access once I get to Japan or my ability to concentrate with classes going on. So, hopefully ^.^! Anyways, I'll see you guys in a bit then! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Shinra opened his door, sleepily rubbing his eyes before replacing his glasses as he allowed Shizuo into his apartment.

"You should've come yesterday," the doctor told the bodyguard before yawning.

"Yeah, but Tom got a shitload of jobs. Took forever," Shizuo growled, scratching the back of his head. Shinra noticed a sizable bandage on the bodyguard's hand and chose not to comment.

"So how's the flea?" Shizuo asked.

"Uh, I was trying to call you about him."

"Really?" Shizuo took out his phone and cursed. "Ran out of batteries."

Shinra sighed. "Well, you're here now."

"So what happened? Is he awake?"

"He is, but… I don't know what to do," Shinra said, opening the door to Izaya's room just a crack so that they could both see inside. "He won't sleep. He won't eat." The bodyguard spotted the informant sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the wall across from him.

"Then talk some sense into him!" Shizuo hissed.

The doctor shook his head, closing the door and leading the bodyguard towards the couch. "He doesn't even move whenever I enter the room to check on him. He just sits there like the world is dead to him. Or… he's dead to the world."

Shizuo gritted his teeth. "Since when?"

"Since he woke up yesterday."

"Tch." Shizuo couldn't stand it anymore. First he couldn't punch the flea without scaring the other halfway to hell, and now Shinra was saying that he couldn't even talk to the flea to get any sort of response whatsoever.

"Wait, Shizuo," Shinra said, holding his hands up to calm the other down, but Shizuo had already sprang off of the sofa and was storming towards Izaya's room, ready for battle.

The door flew open, denting the wall as the doorknob hit it with a loud bang.

"Ah, now I have to call a repairman." Shinra sighed, shaking his head, and decided that he'd go pour himself a cup of coffee and let the two "fight" it out. He figured he might as well talk to Celty for a little bit too.

"Hey, flea!" Shizuo snarled. He had hoped, just a little, that he'd receive a response, but like Shinra said, the informant merely continued sitting there, ignoring him and the rest of the world. "Izaya!" he tried again but to no avail. Only blank lifeless red eyes greeted the wall next to him.

The bodyguard tried, he really did, but he felt the familiar burn of his short temper flare up and let it take over, reveling in its natural heat. There was no way he'd stand here and let the flea ignore him like this. Despite all the previous warnings, Shizuo stormed over to the bed and grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him a few inches off the bed. "Stop ignoring me, damn it!"

Something clicked in the informant, and the smaller man suddenly pushed Shizuo away violently, falling back onto his bed with a hiss as the shockwave from the impact ran through his many sprains and his healing ribs. He attempted to escape from the danger by jumping backwards off the bed, but the lack of painkillers from not eating the past day did its toll, and Izaya ended up tumbling right off the bed headfirst.

"Izaya!" Shizuo grabbed the informant's arm in a flash, stopping the other in mid-fall. A hand suddenly pulled at his, frantically trying to get him to let go. "Stop attacking me you idiot! Do you want to crack open your head?" he yelled, and to his surprise, the other stopped. He took the chance to pull the flea back onto the bed before Izaya tried anything else that would otherwise make him let go.

The informant stayed where he was, breathing heavily, as Shizuo slowly withdrew his hand and took a step back. Izaya looked at the bodyguard, eyes half glazed over with pain as he tried to calm his breathing.

"Izaya?" Shizuo asked, uncertain if the informant had snapped out of it yet. Izaya was staring at him with those familiar wide eyes, and the bodyguard sighed in relief. At least the informant didn't have that damn blank stare anymore.

He motioned to the untouched food at the bedside table. "I'll come back later. Make sure to eat, damn flea…"

It wasn't until the door closed that Izaya finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath before making a grab at the painkillers on the food tray. He finally managed to swallow the pills and buried his face into his pillow, collecting his thoughts as he waited for the medicine to take effect so that he could sit properly and sate his growling stomach.

'Shizu-chan… Why did he come?'

.

"Ah, how rare… so the soul of the head is separated from that of the body?"

"Yes. Can you repair the connection?" Alastair asked impatiently, annoyed at the other Dullahan's interest in such cases, especially since this one involved his beloved.

"Of course! Who do you think I am? You just have to bring them both to my workshop."

"I need it done here in Japan," he said as he took out Celty's head from its bag, twirling it slowly to revel in its beauty.

"You're in Japan, boy? You know as well as I do how dangerous a process like that can be if done in the human world."

"I need it done here," he repeated as he put the head gently down on the table.

The other sighed. "Then I cannot help you, especially if it concerns Celty. I cannot allow one of our own go through such a dangerous procedure outside of the workshop."

"Fine." Alastair hung up before the other could say anything else. "Stupid old geezer." He rested his chin on the table so that he was leveled with the head, staring at her closed eyes. "We'll show them, won't we my dear?"

.

"_I'm going to look for my head,"_ Celty announced, putting on her helmet and throwing Shinra into a panic.

"But Celty, what if he…"

She put a finger to his lips, silencing him. _"It'll be okay. I'll come back. I promise."_

"This is another Dullahan we're talking about, and we don't even know the full extent of his powers!" he continued as soon as the finger left his lips.

"_It's already been three days. I can't just sit here and wait."_

"Celty…"

"_I told her that I'd go back for her, and she smiled."_

"She… smiled?" Shinra repeated, realizing that the head had actually woken up.

"_Yes… So there's still hope. Please understand, Shinra."_

Shinra sighed, giving up. "Fine." He hugged her. "When you come back, we'll make sweet love so loud that even Izaya would jump through the window to escape." She gave him a final punch to the stomach before leaving.

"I love you too!" Shinra yelled after her, trying to stand. He chuckled, massaging his stomach, and headed for Izaya's room.

"You let her go?" the informant asked as soon as the doctor entered, obviously having heard them through the wall.

"I had no choice, and with you in this state…" Shinra began, looking downcast.

"True. True," Izaya agreed.

Shinra paused. "Wait, you expected her to go?"

"Of course. Who could resist? Separated from her head for so long, it was inevitable." The informant shrugged.

"But…"

"I don't doubt that she loves you, but this is different. Besides, give another day, and he's probably going to burn Ikebukuro to the ground looking for her now that he's lost Shizuo."

Shinra sighed. "Okay, then now what?"

"We wait."

A sudden knock at the door distracted the two, and Shinra left the room to open it.

"Ah, you're here," the informant heard the doctor say outside.

'Shizu-chan?' he guessed.

Izaya hesitated when he saw the bodyguard enter the room. For once, he wasn't too sure he wanted to be right. "Shizu-chan…"

Shizuo looked the other way, biting on his cigarette as he thought through what to say. Now that the flea was back in the right mind, he really didn't know what to do, especially with what had happened. "Look, I…" he finally managed.

"Shinra told me you kicked Alastair out of your mind," Izaya said as his usual happy grin overwhelmed his face. "Impressive. I've never thought it was possible for you."

Shizuo clenched a fist, knowing that the flea didn't think too highly of his mental abilities.

Izaya sighed, twirling the phone in his hands. "You never cease to amaze me, Shizu-chan. Completely unpredictable."

The bodyguard remained where he was, silently smoking his cigarette as the smoky odor slowly made its way over to Izaya's bed and made the informant crinkle his nose in annoyance. He could never stand being ignored by Shizuo. "Hey, Shizu-chan?" he continued, deciding that the only way they were going to have somewhat of a decent conversation now that Shizuo finally didn't seem like he was in the mood to pummel the informant was if Izaya spoke first. "Back then… why did you save me?"

"Tch, asking that again?" Shizuo responded a little forcefully.

"Hey, I'm curious," Izaya pouted. "If it was me, I would've…" He paused, frowning. "Hm… It's a little hard to picture."

"How did you think I felt?" the bodyguard grumbled.

"Confused, pleased, embarrassed… enraged," Izaya offered.

"Enraged?"Shizuo repeated as he put out his cigarette on the ashtray that Shinra had conveniently placed on the drawer. True, he was angry at the flea for forcing him to make such a decision, but the answer should've been simple, right? All this thinking of "why" was making him frustrated, and instead of answering, he returned with, "What about you? What the hell are you feeling now?"

"Hm…" Izaya considered the question. Shizuo frowned; he wasn't expecting the flea to actually think over it and give him a straight answer. However, the informant grinned. "I'm scared."

"Huh?" He never thought that he'd hear that seriously from the informant, and Izaya had to say it with such a playful expression too. It wasn't convincing the bodyguard even a little.

"Is that too strong of a word for little me? What about 'worried'?" the informant continued, looking at his hands, closed tranquilly over the cell phone. "Alastair's like you, Shizu-chan. He does strange things, driven only by his obsession of Celty. Wait," he laughed. "Nevermind. That's Namie's dear little brother."

When Shizuo didn't say anything, he continued talking, partly to fill the silence and partly because he simply liked talking. "Shinra's apartment is so warm and comfy," he said out of the blue.

"That's because you're always under the blankets," Shizuo said, annoyed. Of course it'd be warm. "And you're always wearing that huge jacket."

"Because it's stylish," Izaya returned.

"Whatever."

"And warm."

"Why are we talking about this?" the bodyguard growled.

"Because you refuse to answer my question."

"You're pushing it, flea."

"I'm curious," Izaya told him, reaching over for the cup on the table next to his bed, its contents still steaming. He took a long sip and sighed contently. "It was so cold."

"Huh?" Shizuo cursed at himself for giving such "intelligent" responses to the flea's random statements.

"But then Shizu-chan came… and then it was warm…" Izaya continued, lost in his thoughts.

"Izaya…"

At that moment, Shinra came in, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. "I just got a message from Celty… It's a little strange…"

"Oh, that was fast. Let's begin then," he hummed, ignoring Shizuo once again as he looked at his cell phone and scrolled down the names one by one. "Hm… who to call first: Anri… or Gallagher?"

"Who?" Shinra asked when he heard the second name.

"Hopefully my trump card," Izaya answered, his smile dropping just a little as he pressed the "call" button.

* * *

Hello! Ah, sweet weekend. I think the next update will most likely be on Tuesday… but if I happen to get any time during the weekend, I'll try to update Sunday. I'll see you again soon then!

Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Okay, I need some painkillers," Izaya hummed as he threw the bottle on top of the bed before limping over to the drawer and unearthing his laundered clothes. He looked at the other two in the room with a mischievous grin. "Oh, so do you want to watch me change or…"

"We're going out!" Shizuo snapped before dragging the doctor out of the room with him, slamming the door on the flea.

The doctor grinned enthusiastically at the bodyguard's flustered demeanor. "That was a rather extreme response," Shinra commented after seating himself comfortably on his sofa, well away from Izaya's door. "Could it be?"

"Be what?" Shizuo grunted.

The grin dropped immediately. If Shizuo didn't realize it himself, then it'd be risky for Shinra to point it out. After a moment of consideration, he decided he'd say it anyway. Besides, he needed a distraction from the current situation with Celty, or else he'd worry himself to death before they even find her. "Well, it's just a hunch, but I think that you might be in… you know…"

"What?" the bodyguard repeated irritably.

"In lo…"

"Done!" Izaya announced, opening the door.

'I think he might have just saved me,' the doctor thought as he turned to the informant, sighing despite himself. "Ah, okay, what do we do now? I'm worried about Celty."

Izaya's answer didn't ease his mind even a little. "You wait here."

"Huh?" Had the informant finally gone insane?

"You can't expect us to just sit around and do nothing!" Shizuo exclaimed.

"Oh, come on. What could go wrong?" Izaya grinned, twirling around before disappearing through the front door before either of them could stop him.

"My painkillers are pretty good, aren't they?" Shinra said, amazed that the informant could force himself to move around so much with the assistance of the drugs.

"Who cares? Let's follow that damn flea and make sure he doesn't do something stupid," the bodyguard growled, stomping to the door as Shinra ran to keep up with the taller man's strides.

'Screw the hunch. I'm pretty sure now…' Shinra thought as he locked the door behind him and went through the wonderful scenario of discussing it with his beloved Dullahan when the current situation suddenly came running straight back into him. He gave up trying to distract himself. Just because Izaya could do it didn't mean he can take stress in this way.

'Celty, don't worry. We'll be there soon,' he tried to reassure himself as he followed Shizuo down the stairs.

.

"Alastair…"

The Dullahan turned around, glaring at the speaker. "Gallagher, why did you come? I thought you said you weren't going to help."

"You actually tried to do the seal yourself…" the newcomer sighed, shaking his head. His head rolled off with the action, and he caught it gracefully before tucking it under his arm.

"Celty's just as good as before," Alastair defended himself, motioning to the one next to him, who turned and looked at Gallagher quietly, her eyes empty and dull, a noticeable scar marking the place where her head had been "reattached".

The older Dullahan inspected Celty briefly, his eyes looking her over from under his arm. "What you have created is your own version of Celty. Can't you tell? She has no will of her own."

"She is Celty!" Alastair snarled, moving in front of her as if to shield her from any projectiles or spells. "My one and only beloved!"

"You are blind, Alastair," Gallagher told him sternly. "Let me bring her back to my workshop, and I shall undo the damage."

"There is nothing wrong with her!" the Dullahan hissed.

"Of course there is. You are controlling her and yet you claim you love her?"

"How dare you doubt my…"

"My my…" a new voice made Alastair look to the side while the corners of Gallagher's mouth turned slightly up. The older Dullahan replaced his head on his shoulders just as Izaya stepped into the lamplight. "Oh, continue arguing by all means. It's quite interesting," the informant greeted them.

"You desire death that much, don't you?" Alastair mocked him. "How did you find us?"

The informant looked at the other Dullahan in response, their eyes meeting for a brief second.

"I never did ask how you got my number," Gallagher said, making Alastair realize that he was the one responsible.

"I'm an informant," Izaya answered simply.

The older Dullahan chuckled. "I see. I see. Now, before we complete our transaction, allow me to see more of your human strength."

"Transaction? You tried to negotiate with this vermin?" Alastair snarled.

Izaya grinned, ignoring the Dullahan closer to him. "Would you like to see me lift a vending machine or something? I can arrange someone to do that."

Gallagher matched the other's smile one of his own. "Actually, I was thinking of a little fight with Alastair here. After all, aren't you both fighting over Celty?"

Izaya blinked, giving the two a surprised face. "A fight seems a little extreme."

"You do know that we Dullahans enjoy a battle, don't you?" he continued calmly.

Izaya shifted, pulling his mouth into an uncomfortable frown. "Maybe. I might have read about that somewhere."

Gallagher nodded. "Then it's settled."

'Okay, just in case…' Izaya pressed the send button on his phone in his pocket, and the object vibrated gently against his palm, indicating the message had reached Anri. He hadn't expected the other to be such a good actor, but then again, there's always the chance that Gallagher wasn't acting.

"Wait, assuming that I defeat Alastair," he began, hoping to find something in the older Dullahan that could reassure him just a little and also steer the conversation towards what he hoped the other wanted, "then what?"

"I'll take Celty back to my workshop and repair the connection."

Izaya sighed, remember to not act too dramatic. He was all too use to these theatrics and inwardly jeered at the younger Dullahan's confused face as he pulled off each emotion naturally. "That wasn't our agreement."

"I don't follow your rules, human."

"You all seem to love us a little too much," the informant stated sarcastically.

Gallagher chuckled. "I'm just stating the obvious."

"Okay, what happens if Alastair wins then?" Izaya asked, keeping the excitement down in his voice.

"I wait for him to finish his business here and then take Celty back to repair the connection."

Alastair laughed when he heard this. "I knew you'd approve of my methods."

Gallagher turned back to him. "Of course I don't approve, but I can't pass on a little entertainment, can I? According to you, this man is the reason why Celty lost her head in the first place. Isn't that why you wanted to repair the connection in the human world, so that you can have your revenge on this little one? It doesn't matter who wins anyway; it is only a few minutes difference."

"Actually, that was…" Izaya tried to cut in innocently.

"Also, you will be punished accordingly either way, Alastair. The Court will hear of this," Gallagher finished.

"Tch, crazy old fool," the Dullahan muttered in protest.

"Stop calling me that. Now hurry up and fight, so I can take Celty back to my workshop. It pains me to see her in such a state."

"The flea isn't the only thing I need to take care of!" Alastair snapped, annoyed that the other had thought so little of his self-proclaimed revenge.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "What else do you need to do that is of so much importance?"

'So that's how he's doing it…' Izaya thought as he watched.

"We will burn Ikebukuro to the ground to show the humans just who they are dealing with," Alastair angrily responded. "Screw the Court and its rules. These humans must be punished!"

Gallagher looked at him sternly before finally sighing. "So that really was your plan."

Izaya let out his breath slowly in relief.

"I didn't believe that you'd go to such extremes, so I had to hear for myself." He looked over to the informant. "I apologize for doubting you, human." He summoned a scythe in his hand, waving it through the air. "As for you, Alastair… For committing high treason and speaking against the Court in such a manner, it is my duty to stop this nonsense logic of yours."

"You…" Alastair snarled when he realized it was all an act. "Shut up and go back to your damn workshop already!" With a wave of the hand, he sent a mass of shadows at the other Dullahan, encasing him. He closed his fingers, and the shadows tightened around the other like a mummy. "To hell with you!"

Izaya took the chance to step back as quietly as he can, trying to locate the nearest alley he could run into. However, Alastair turned to Celty and motioned to the informant with his free hand just as he managed to move three steps.

"Kill him."

'Oh, shit!' The informant jumped to the right just as Celty's scythe came down, narrowly avoiding the black blade, as the shadows surrounding Gallagher exploded. The older Dullahan, freed from his prison, swung his scythe through the air, sending a sharp wave of wind at Alastair, who dodged it easily enough and kicked another blob of shadows at Gallagher that turned into serpents before they reached him.

Izaya jumped again, this time to avoid another blast of air that had missed Alastair, when his legs suddenly gave way and nearly sent him face down on the ground. He struggled to his feet, dazed, and tried to run away from the sound of light feet on concrete and the swing of a scythe, only to find himself falling once again, his legs numb and useless. 'What the hell?' He realized that he was shaking. 'Oh…'

Izaya managed to turn himself over so that he was facing Celty, who walked towards him slowly, her scythe ready for the kill. He laughed. 'Anri, you are late late late,' he thought as he closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing. 'How lame, I'm going to get decapitated just because of a few bruises on my feet.'

He heard the scythe through the air along with another pair of new footsteps, the sound of flesh ripping, and then suddenly felt something warm splatter over his face. 'Oh, did she cut my head open?' He slowly opened an eye out of curiosity, although he'd rather not see his mangled dead body.

Izaya blinked, the tip of the scythe inches away from his forehead. Blood dripped from the place where the blade protruded out of the back of a bartender vest.

* * *

Ah, I am tired…

Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

Note: This is not a new chapter! After a few hours of mourning over the craziness of what I just posted, I decided to split Chapter 8 into 2 chapters (8 and 9)! There are a few edits in the fighting and talking but the plot is still the same. Chapter 10 should be up sometime later today! Enjoy!

* * *

Realization hit him with the force of bullet train. "Shi-Shizu-chan?" he called out, not believing what he was seeing. Celty wrenched the scythe out of the man with a quick jerk of the arm, and Shizuo fell to the floor in a heap, blood pooling around him.

"Celty!" Izaya heard as Shinra ran to them, out of breath. Another explosion next to them, courtesy of Gallagher, sent concrete flying at the side of his face, but he ignored all of that. Celty looked away from the two, distracted by the doctor's voice, and headed towards him, scythe raised.

"Shizu-chan?" he tried again but received no response.

Celty came closer to the doctor as he tried to yell her back to her senses, which was obviously not working. Alastair sent another wave of shadows over Gallagher and slammed the entire mass into the side of the building, smashing the wall as he threw the older Dullahan in. Laughing like a madman, he conjured a new hoard of shadow serpents into the hole in the building, filling the street with the sound of hisses.

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya brought his hand close to the bodyguard's shoulder to shake him awake, but stopped, his fingertips just centimeters away. He couldn't do it. He couldn't touch him. "Shizu-chan!" It came out as a choke.

Pleased with his work, Alastair looked over to the humans, finding Celty preoccupied with the one in the white coat, and summoned his own scythe to take care of the informant himself.

Izaya spotted the danger and tried to jump away, managing only to stumble back a few steps after getting to his feet. Alastair walked towards him slowly on purpose, licking his lips suggestively like that man had done in that room, like several of them had done before…

However, the informant's mind was far away at the moment as he returned his gaze back to the fallen man. 'Shizu-chan… I'm…'

Izaya felt his legs give way again. 'I didn't want you to die… not like this… Damn it, wake up! Stop lying there!'

A yell snapped him back into reality.

A sword came down from the sky, and Alastair jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade before accidentally losing his head. As he ran to retrieve it, Anri jumped up and, with a clean slice, brought her blade through the scar on Celty's neck just as the Dullahan swung her scythe down towards Shinra. Her head fell onto the floor, rolling to a stop against a nearby mailbox before she closed her eyes.

"Celty!" Shinra yelled as he caught her, looking over to Anri as the bespectacled girl stood up and turned towards Alastair, sword ready. The doctor laughed nervously. "Just in time."

"No I…" She saw Shizuo on the floor and gripped Saika harder as Alastair stood up, his head in place. "You'll pay."

The Dullahan laughed. "And what can your little sword possibly do?"

"Kill you," she answered, lunging.

He sidestepped her attack and brought up a wave of shadows that hit the girl in the stomach before wrenching the sword away from her. He took the blade from his shadows and eyed it carefully, his smile increasing when he realized what he had in his hand. Alastair turned to Izaya, ignoring Anri. "So this is your trump card, huh? For hurting Celty again, I'll kill with this."

He lunged, the blade just barely missing Izaya as the informant leapt aside, his legs nearly losing all feeling in protest.

"Keep still already, flea."

Izaya looked at Anri and then back at Saika, thinking through his next action carefully, trying to keep his thoughts in order. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, shutting the sight of the bodyguard out of his mind. The Dullahan struck again, and the informant made a last minute decision to stay in place, moving only enough to let the blade impale his shoulder. Izaya took the chance to wrench Saika away with the sword still in him before pulling it out and throwing it aside, gasping as his entire side went numb with the sudden loss of blood.

Alastair smiled. "So you'd rather die by my scythe, flea?"

"You have no right to say that," Izaya hissed, holding his shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He admitted that Shinra's painkillers really did their thing though. "You have no right to call me that…"

"I can call you whatever I please, human."

The Dullahan summoned his scythe, caressing it gently before bringing it down mercilessly. This time, Izaya kept his eyes opened, glaring death straight in the face. As if the informant was controlling it, the blade suddenly slowed and stopped in midair, a few inches above his head.

"What…" the Dullahan looked down and saw metal, right through his heart. He had been so preoccupied with killing the informant that Izaya had thrown the sword straight back at Anri without him knowing.

Gallagher finally unearthed himself from the building, putting his head back onto his neck as his eyes took in the scene before him.

Alastair tried to swing his scythe again at Izaya, and Anri pulled out Saika only to impale him close to the same spot, stopping him in his tracks as the sword cut the remaining piece of his heart in half. The shadows melted away from around him as Gallagher hit the Dullahan with a final blast of wind, and the head fell off and onto the ground, lifeless. "Stupid boy," the older Dullahan sighed.

Anri slowly removed her sword and allowed the body to fall to the ground, as still as its counterpart.

Gallagher looked over to Anri, studying her blade over with sparkling eyes. "You are Saika."

She eyed him carefully, reading her sword just in case he attacked too.

However, he bowed to the blade, taking off his head briefly, before straightening and replacing it on his neck. "I apologize for Alastair's foolishness."

She relaxed, just a little.

"Is he… dead?" Shinra asked.

"No, but it will take me a while to repair the connections in his heart, if the Court would even allow it," Gallagher said, examining Alastair.

"The Court?" the doctor repeated.

"We do not like to noticed," he answered before looking back at the two. "And, as for Celty…"

The Dullahan stirred in Shinra's arms and sat up, looking around her. The doctor grabbed her hand nervously, unwilling to let go lest she suddenly disappear.

"Do you want to come back with me?" Gallagher asked her politely enough, pleased that she was acting normal now. "I can reunite you with your head, and you can return to your place in our world."

Celty turned to Shinra and gave his hand a light squeeze of reassurance before he finally unearthed a PDA from his coat, handing it to her.

"_Not now,"_ she typed._ "There are still some things I'd like to do here."_

He chuckled as he walked over to Celty's head and picked it carefully. "You were always a rebel."

"_Are you going to force me to go back?"_

"Why would I do that? From the looks of it, you humans will kill me too." He coughed. "My apologies, humans and a sword."

"What are you going to do with the head?" Shinra asked him, looking over to Izaya. The informant had dragged himself over to Shizuo and was currently staring at the man silently, ignoring the rest of them.

"I'll hold on to her until you are ready," Gallagher said, looking at Celty, and Shinra almost swore that the head in the Dullahan's arms had suddenly smiled. He made a motion with his hands and encased the fallen Alastair in shadow. Gallagher looked back at the humans again, stopping especially at Shizuo before focusing his gaze on the informant next to the fallen human.

"_That one… you need to watch that one carefully…"_ Shinra heard in his mind.

"Our agreement has been fulfilled," Gallagher announced, nodding to Celty and the others before a mass of shadows surrounded him and the shadow-encased Alastair. They rose into the air and dissipated into the night sky, and suddenly all was calm again. _"Farewell for now_…_ humans_…_"_

"No it hasn't…" Izaya muttered as he stood up slowly, testing out the strength of his legs. "Shizu-chan's dead…" He wondered at the back of his mind if his ribs would crack again from the effort of standing or his wound open even more and spill the rest of his remaining blood out, but he didn't care and finally removed his hand from his shoulder, allowing it to bleed freely.

"Izaya, you shouldn't move!" Shinra said, running to him as the informant started making his way back into the alley, back into the darkness.

Izaya heard something behind him and turned around instinctively, creating a wave of dizziness that almost took him away. A fist suddenly connected with his face, nearly knocking him off his feet if not for the strong arms that wrapped just as quickly around him, damp with blood, but very much alive. He froze at the touch. _Hands. Pain. Coldness._

"Stupid flea."

_Warmth. _He managed to focus his gaze on the bodyguard, who had the usual annoyed expression on his face despite being covered in blood.

"Shizu-chan…"

Izaya smiled and finally allowed himself to fall. It was over. Everything will be back to the way it was before. At least, that's what he told himself as he let his muscles go lax and darkness take him.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Time for me to sleep…


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Izaya I suggest that you rest a little longer."

"I'm fine. I'm fine," the informant reassured the other, grinning.

Shinra sighed, knowing that there was no way he could convince Izaya otherwise if the informant thought that he was okay. "Are you sure?" he asked. Frankly, it wasn't the informant's physical state that he was uneasy about, it was his aversion to touch. Shinra hadn't confirmed it yet, but he was fairly sure that besides Shizuo, and he wasn't even completely certain about the bodyguard, the informant would still have some sort of reaction if he accidentally bumped into a passerby on the street, which he did fairly often, knowing him.

Izaya didn't share the same sentiments.

"Yup!" the informant answered energetically, ready to get out of his room in Shinra's apartment and move around freely without painkillers for the first time in a month. The doctor had monitored the other's intake of the drug extremely carefully at Izaya's request since none of them were sure what would happen if the wound inflicted by Saika's blade started hurting.

"Call me if anything comes up," Shinra told him.

"You worry too much."

The doctor watched as the door closed behind the informant, who was likely skipping down the hallway by now, and sighed, collapsing on his sofa. He heard tapping and looked up at the PDA.

_"Is he going to be okay?"_

"Oh! You're worried too? We think alike!"

_"Well, twisted reasons or not, he did save me and Ikebukuro."_

Shinra smiled. "Yeah. Well, I kind of gave Shizuo a little heads up that our informant would be running around freely today."

Celty stayed silent for a bit, shocked that the doctor would think that was a good idea. _"I don't think that's very reassuring, unless you want him back here with another set of broken bones."_

The doctor's smile widened just a little. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. You should know, if you have been watching Shizuo."

_"Oh?"_

"This might actually be fun." He laughed as he closed his eyes for a nice nap. "Now I'm beginning to to understand why Izaya enjoys playing with people so much."

.

"Did you hear?" one of four men in a corner table of the bar whispered.

"That informant is back in Ikebukuro. I wonder what he was doing this past month," his friend answered.

"Knowing him, probably gathering information on the outside," the third scoffed.

"I heard that he was kidnapped," the last one commented quietly.

"How absurd."

"Impossible."

"By who?" The first one did not share the other two's rejection of the idea.

"What? You too?"

"Who knows. I heard they did some pretty nasty stuff to him," the third lowered his voice.

"Huh? Any pictures floating around?"

"No. Can't find any."

"Like I told you, impossible," one of the other two cut in.

"But maybe... if that was true... Maybe now's a good time?"

"We don't know yet!"

"Well then, we just have to find out."

.

Izaya sighed as he skimmed through the mass of emails he had accumulated, seated comfortably back in his apartment, the door repaired after three phone calls with the landlord. He looked out the window a little aimlessly: sunny skies, a few clouds, beautiful day.

"Ah, I'll go out tomorrow," he declared before frowning. He had told himself the same thing yesterday and the day before yesterday. The informant rolled over to his board game set and poked at it, lifting one of the chess pawn pieces before reconsidering and placing it back down on the same spot. 'This isn't like me...' He recalled Shinra's repeated inquiries of his mental state.

Izaya stood up and threw on his jacket lying on the sofa. "No problem! I can go outside!" he declared to himself before leaving.

The first thing he realized when he left the front door of his apartment building was the amount of humans walking around. Frowning, he made a dive for the alley and continued on his aimless walk through them, avoiding the open whenever he could. He might have said he felt safe here, except the shadows themselves began to annoy him, just a little. He would head down one alley only to turn around in favor of another with a little more light.

'Damn, what's happening to me?'

He finally gave up and sat on a staircase to rest, studying the crack trails on the cement as he thought through his options. 'Okay, self-diagnosis. I was okay when I left Shinra's apartment those last two times. Kind of okay when I was going home. Now I'm not so okay. Why? What's different?' He thought through the situation some more before coming to a realization and burst out in hysterics at the irony of it all. "It's because I'm not distracted anymore," he concluded, smiling and jumping back on his feet, happy that now he had an answer.

"Then I just have to find a distraction!"

He found his "distraction" easily enough; the vending machine must have flown down at least three blocks this time. Izaya dodged the people running towards him as he made his way towards his goal. He took a deep breath and yelled, "Shizu-cha..." when one of the escaping onlookers suddenly brushed his shoulder before escaping the beast of Ikebukuro. The informant stopped where he was, looking around uneasily for any possible enemies.

"Izaya!" Shizuo roared when he saw him and lifted the former vending machine's brother. He grinned. "So you're finally back to normal, right? I can kill you now!"

Izaya took one last look around before concentrating on Shizuo, a second too late. The vending machine knocked him to the ground and continued flying away before finally landing on the ground and skidding to a stop, smoking.

"Izaya!" the bodyguard called his name again, although this time the tone was drastically different. He shook the informant violently, making it even harder for Izaya to see through the stars filling his vision.

"Hey, stop that," he said, and Shizuo obliged. Izaya finally regained his breath and stared at Shizuo before looking down to his arms, still grasped firmly by the bodyguard's hands. He felt the wave of panic start to come and closed his eyes, trying to even out his breathing. 'It's just Shizu-chan. It's just Shizu-chan.' He almost laughed out loud when he realized what he was thinking and changed the chant. 'Shizu-chan's not going to kill me right now. Shizu-chan's not going to kill me right now.'

Shizuo finally realized what was prolonging the informant's state and let go. Izaya finally composed himself and laughed. "What was that?"

"I was trying to shake you back to your senses," the bodyguard answered truthfully.

"Then why'd you throw the vending machine at me in the first place?"

"Instinct." Shizuo shrugged. "Why didn't you dodge?"

"I..." Izaya bit his lip. He didn't want to tell the bodyguard what happened. After all, the Dullahan incident was over; he was supposed to be healed. If he wasn't over it, he was going to make himself get over it. "That's not how you revive someone you've just smacked with 400 kilograms of metal," he replied instead.

"Don't change the subject," Shizuo growled.

"Why not? Don't I always?"

"Look, I'm just..." the bodyguard stopped, a little uneasy.

"Just?" Izaya asked, still grinning. "Worried about little me? Oh, I'm so touched."

The fist finally came at him, and this time, he dodged like he was supposed to before slipping away and running off, blowing a raspberry in Shizuo's direction before he disappeared around a corner.

.

"Did you see it?"

"Oh yes."

"Unbelievable."

"So when should we do it?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow sounds good."

"Okay, here's the plan..." the leader muttered.

"Time to get rid of that pest for good."

.

Today Izaya forced himself to walk alongside his beloved humans, only to flinch every time he brushed against a sleeve, an arm, or even someone's backpack or purse. He finally gave up and turned into another alley, wondering if he should just head home for the day to take a break and let his mind calm down. Except, home was so quiet nowadays, especially with Namie still in the hospital, and he couldn't distract himself enough from his daydreams and the random assaults of memories on his mind even with the massive amount of work he had accumulated.

He continued along the alley for a little while before finally returning to the reality around him and realized that he wasn't alone. "Shizu-chan?" he called out, although he knew how the bodyguard's footsteps sounded like, and they especially didn't make multiple steps at once. He took out one of his knives and flipped the blade out quietly, looking around his surroundings for a possible escape. He found none; he had been so caught up in his thoughts he had walked right into a dead end.

"Who would've thought the great Orihara Izaya was so easy to catch?" someone said, making the informant whirl around. He spotted four of them: not too many, but still a lot for one person. Not for Izaya though, at least, a month ago, before he had met the Dullahan.

'Okay, I just have to swing...' he realized that he'd end up making some kind of contact with the men if he were to fight them off. At the moment, even the feeling of his short blade against someone's skin wasn't too appealing. He wished that he had borrowed Saika.

The nearest man ran at him, his own knife raised, and Izaya jumped away, about to give the man a nice scar on his back, only to suddenly feel the back of the man's shirt on his hand as the cut sliced a few inches across. He pulled away awkwardly and crashed into one of the others, who brought a pipe down on his back, knocking him to the ground.

Izaya felt his traitorous muscles begin acting as soon as the pain erupted on his back and pulled into a ball where he was, trying to hide from the surrounding danger. 'This is ridiculous,' he told himself as calmly as he could, but his arms and legs wouldn't listen, and he stayed where he was. He suddenly felt very cold.

One of men laughed. "Wow, I didn't know you were this screwed up. What did they do to you?" A kick at his legs only made him tense even more. "Or, were you always like this? A coward?"

At that moment Izaya recalled the lecture Simon had given him during his last scheme with Celty's head. 'A coward...' He'd known all along, and he almost wanted to laugh at that because now he was going to die for that. He heard a click and wondered if he could somehow roll away. What would those other humans say to an Izaya rolling down the street back home? The joke calmed him a little, and he was about to move when a creak echoed down the alley.

One of the men suddenly yelled, and he heard the scuffle of feet before a loud wind swept over him and a massive crash shook the wall near him, sending chunks of dust and rocks his way.

He opened an eye carefully as he sat up, shaking, and looked around only to find Shizuo at the end of the alley, smoking casually on his cigarette as he walked towards Izaya.

"Shizu-chan..." He looked behind him towards the mess on wall. "You threw a bus..."

"Well, it was the only thing lying around, and it was empty," the bodyguard shrugged.

Izaya looked down at Shizuo's hands and saw blood. He chuckled. "Wow, so scary, Shizu-chan."

"It's not working," Shizuo told him.

Izaya stood up shakily. "I'm making it work."

"Well, we can see how well that went?"

"I'm telling you, I'm fine," Izaya repeated, feeling the heat rush up to his face. He was frustrated, so frustrated. Never in his life would he had guessed that the bodyguard would be the one trying to comfort him. Never.

Shizuo sighed, noticing the flea's reaction. "Look, Shinra told me to watch you, okay? It's not like I want to do it. You owe me big time already."

"Well I never asked for your help!" Izaya snapped back.

"I'm giving it to you anyway."

"Why?"

"Why?" He threw the cigarette to the floor, smashing it with his feet. "Because I can't freaking kill you like this."

Izaya laughed. "That's it? Figures, Shizu-chan."

"I'm just as frustrated as you are," the bodyguard growled. "You're supposed to okay now! And now… you're…"

"Well, I don't need your pity!"

Shizuo finally reached him and grabbed his collar, lifting him straight off the ground. "You think this is pity? Why the fuck would I pity someone like you? I'm not so low that I'd kill someone who's hurt."

"Who's hurt?" Izaya managed, trying to ignore the onslaught of discomfort he felt, and the strange coldness that had persisted throughout the fight with the four men and increased even more now.

"You!"

"I'm not," he returned quietly.

Shizuo sighed and let him down, allowing the informant to take a breath. "Listen, Izaya..."

The informant heard the familiar click again, and before he could act, the sudden sound of a gunshot did all the talking.

* * *

Ah! Must finish… before I leave… next week… It suddenly got hot again X.X

Anyways, thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya called out nervously. Normally, he would have run off by now, laughing at the bodyguard's bad luck, but he stayed glued to the spot, staring at the man who had just moved to block the gunshot from him. Shizuo, on the other hand, was preoccupied by other things. The bodyguard slowly turned around to face the four that had escaped earlier, and Izaya found himself staring at growling stain on Shizuo's shoulder, barely recognizable against his black vest.

"You interrupted me," Shizuo snarled as the four backed away slowly. He took one step towards them, and they ran for it, yelling for their lives as the bodyguard turned and walked back to the totaled bus on the wall and hurled it at them. The sound of metal scraping on concrete and cracking glass mixed with muffled yells marked their demise.

The bodyguard turned back to Izaya, whose eyes followed him with a blank expression. He thought back to the time in Shinra's apartment and gritted his teeth, hoping that the damned flea wasn't going to pull another lifeless doll act on him. "Are you hurt?"

"Huh?" the informant answered, surprised.

'Okay, that's a good sign.'

"I asked if you're hurt," he repeated irritably.

Izaya blinked at the bodyguard until he finally realized that Shizuo had no idea he was shot and suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny, flea?"

"Oh, nothing." He could just let it go, and he if he was lucky, the bodyguard would bleed to death, but he was feeling extra generous towards Shizuo these days. He grinned. "You're hurt."

"Huh?" Shizuo finally noticed the blood trail that had followed him and touched his back, finding the source. "Oh." He looked back at Izaya, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, still unsure of how to face the situation. Shizuo had been much too tame lately for his own peace of mind.

"What?" the informant finally asked.

"You didn't freak out this time." Shizuo stated.

"Why would I? Even I can't figure out how to kill Shizu-chan."

"But last time you…"

"Last time…" Izaya bit his lip as he unwillingly tried to recall the fight with Alastair. "Celty got you."

"And?"

The informant thought through his answer some more. "She's a Dullahan."

"And?"

"I don't know! Look, let's just go to Shinra's already."

"For what?"

"For the giant hole in your back!" Izaya snapped as he stormed off. Shizuo stared after the informant curiously before smiling, just a little. It wasn't every day that he could see Izaya this flustered.

.

"Maybe you should stop going out for a while," Shinra said to Izaya as he pulled the needle out of Shizuo's back.

"I did, actually," the informant answered, spinning around on the computer chair he had found in the other room. "Then I decided that I wanted to see the humans that I love so much, and they went and attacked me."

"Figures," Shizuo muttered.

"Both times," Izaya added.

"Shut up, flea."

"Okay, done," Shinra announced. "Hey wait! Don't wear that; you'll dirty the bandages!" he said as Shizuo reached for his white shirt.

"Yeah! Shizu-chan should just go home shirtless!" the informant helped. Shinra almost thanked Shizuo for grabbing the sofa cushion instead of the coffee table. Izaya dodged the flying projectile easily but suddenly gave a yelp and fell out of his chair. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his back.

Shinra sighed, shaking his head both at the new dent in his wall and the informant. "Izaya, take off your shirt."

"What? Ew! Shinra's after guys now!"

"Izaya…"

"Okay okay!" the informant gave up, crawling back onto his seat before removing his jacket and shirt, trying not to flinch as the sudden wave of cold air swept over him.

"Hm… where'd you get this?" Shinra said, poking the blistering bruise on the other's back, earning a sudden lack of movement from the other. "Oh, sorry."

"One of them had a pipe or something," Izaya muttered.

"Okay, let me put some medicine on it to stop the swelling." He pulled out a cotton swab and showed it to the informant. "I'm going to use this okay?"

"I'm not a kid, Shinra," the informant whined.

"Yeah, but I don't want you freaking out on me just over some medicine."

"Yes yes. I will not suddenly fall to the floor convulsing if you accidentally touch me with your fingers instead of the giant cotton ball… Ouch!"

"Hold still!"

Shizuo watched the proceedings quietly, trying to avert his eyes from the informant's bare back. He didn't know what was making him feel so uncomfortable. After all, he had seen that same back, a lot worse off than it was now, only a month ago. He frowned at the bruise, wishing that he had punched the four with his fists instead of using the bus. 'Wait what?' he stopped himself just as a PDA was thrust in front of him.

"_Here, it's the only big shirt I found in Shinra's closet."_

Shizuo stared at the T-shirt in Celty's hands, a mass of formulas on a black background. "Hey! It was free at one of those conventions! You know how they only have large sizes!" Shinra explained.

"Right…" Shizuo muttered as he threw the shirt on.

"_Do you have a fever? You're a little red."_

"Huh? I'm fine," Shizuo answered, feeling his own forehead.

"_You should get Shinra to check. The wound might have gotten infected."_

"What's wrong?" Shinra asked, turning around again. "Oh, Shizuo's fine. I checked his temperature already." He helped Izaya pull his shirt back on and stood up, stretching. "All done."

"Great!" Izaya said, standing up to leave.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

"Home," the informant announced.

"I haven't given you your prescription yet."

"Why do I need a prescription?"

"As your doctor, I'd suggest for you to stay in Shizuo's house until Namie's out of the hospital."

"What?" both the informant and the bodyguard exclaimed.

Shinra sighed. "Give or take a few days, you'll probably end up staying in your apartment all day."

"Hey, in case you haven't noticed, I did leave my apartment: twice."

"In the past week," the doctor finished for him.

"No way in hell is he staying at my place," Shizuo joined in. "He'd wreck it!"

"Yes, I'd wreck it!" Izaya agreed cheerfully. "Wait, can't I just stay here? Not that I want to…"

"Oh, sure. Unless you want to hear me and Celty…"

"I take that back," Izaya answered quickly. "I'm going home then. Don't play too hard," he sang before walking towards the door. Shizuo stared at the informant's retreating back, suddenly remembering the bruise again.

"Wait." Izaya froze at the hand around his wrist.

"Let go, Shizu-chan," he said quietly.

Shizuo considered his decision again. If this was going to get the informant back to normal, then he might as well go for it. The faster Izaya returns to the way before, the faster he can go back to trying to kill the informant for all the headaches the flea had given him all these past years. At the very least, Izaya wouldn't be able to cause too much destruction to his belongings if they didn't stay at Shizuo's house. "I'll go with you."

Izaya stared at him for a moment before laughing. "You? Live in my apartment?"

"Oh, that works too!" Shinra said eagerly.

"_I don't see a problem with it."_

The informant looked at all of them, frowning. Had they all suddenly turned crazy just because he himself was a little under the weather? The corners of his lips went up. This could quite fun actually, having Shizuo so close. He could harass the bodyguard to no end. "You're sleeping on the couch though! No complaints!" Izaya finally agreed.

.

"Ah, so refreshed!" Izaya announced as he stepped out of the shower, already dressed for bed in his pajamas. He jumped onto the sofa and lied down, staring at his ceiling as he waited for Shizuo to come back from his own apartment, having gone back there first to grab some extra clothing and whatever else he needed. The informant's eyes started to droop just as a knock on the door indicated that the bodyguard had arrived. He sleepily dragged himself to his feet and opened the door.

"Sofa's right there, good night," the informant mumbled as he started heading for his own bedroom. He was exhausted from the day, and the ache in his back wasn't doing him any favors either.

Shizuo stared at the now closed bedroom door and the couch, frowning. "What have I gotten myself into," he muttered as he dropped his duffel bag off next to the sofa.

The bodyguard left the shower a nice hour and a half later, having spent it tediously trying to bathe without wetting his bandages. Already annoyed at the effort he had to spend just to take a bath, Shizuo walked over to his sofa and suddenly realized that the flea had conveniently forgotten to give him a pillow or blanket. He stomped over to the informant's door and had to do all he could from knocking the piece of wood down.

Luckily for the door and probably for Izaya, the informant opened the door promptly, surprisingly wide awake. "Yes?" he breathed. Shizuo suddenly noticed the sweat that ran down the side of the other's face and slightly haggard breathing.

"Uh… you forgot to give me a pillow and blanket…" Shizuo finally managed, most of his anger dissipated by curiosity. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes yes," Izaya said impatiently as he disappeared back into the darkness of his room and came back with a pillow and blanket, shoving them into the other's arms. "Okay here! Now go sleep! Don't bug me!" The door slammed in Shizuo's face.

"Goodnight to you too," the bodyguard hissed as he marched over to his sofa. It was going to be a painful stay.

Meanwhile, Izaya turned on his bedside light and grabbed his laptop from the table before sitting on the carpet, leaning against his bed tenderly as a backrest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning his computer on. "I'll sleep later…" he muttered.

* * *

Hello! Ah, I realized that this might end up longer than I intended to. I still hope to finish it by next Wednesday, but if not, and I'm really sorry, do you mind waiting a little longer for updates? Hopefully not though ^.^ I'll do my best!

Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Shizuo stared groggily at the unfamiliar ceiling for a few minutes before finally remembering that he had slept over in Izaya's living room. Grunting, the bodyguard sat up, rubbing his eyes before grabbing at his phone to look at the time. 'Lucky I don't have work today…' He doubted the flea would have even bothered to wake him up even if he did have work; the noon sun was shining through a small crack between the blinds.

He walked over to the bathroom, first checking his face in the mirror for any paint or marker doodles. Satisfied that the flea hadn't decided to draw all over his face, Shizuo proceeded to wash up for the day, grabbing his toothbrush and a small towel from his duffel bag.

The bodyguard yawned again as he sat back down on the sofa, finally in the comfort of one his bartender outfits, his sunglasses still lying on the table. He looked over to the desk in the room, wondering if he should risk lighting a cigarette. "Where is that flea anyway?"

Shizuo turned his attention to Izaya's room door, frowning. 'Maybe he went out?' However, common sense told him that there was no way the flea would've snuck out of his own apartment without doing something to the bodyguard on the way from his room to the front door. He finally decided to check and walked over the door only to find it unlocked, despite having it slammed in his face just last night.

"Hey flea!" Shizuo yelled as he barged into the room, finding it devoid of any informant at the moment. His eyes trailed to the bed. "What the hell? Did he?" Sure enough, the blankets and pillow were missing. He shook his head. There was no way the flea would willingly give him his worldly comforts if he didn't have any spares. In fact, he didn't even expect Izaya to throw the blanket and pillow at him yesterday.

He heard breathing and went around the bed to the other side to find the informant sleeping on the floor, curled up against the bedskirt for what little warmth it had offered the prior night, his opened laptop a few inches away, most likely off because it had overheated from being on so long.

"Izaya," Shizuo called him, causing the informant to stir, sitting up slowly as if in a daze.

Izaya turned to him, squinting at the bodyguard through sleep deprived eyes. "Oh, good morning Shizu-chan."

The bodyguard wanted to grab him by the collar and shake some sense into him but refrained at the moment, telling himself that it was probably not going to do the informant any good. "It's 1 in the afternoon."

"Oh really? That's nice…" the informant answered as he attempted to lie back down on the floor only for Shizuo to grab him. That woke him up, as he immediately tried to pull away from the bodyguard's strong grip. "Hey Shizu-chan, let go. It hurts."

Shizuo let him go after hearing the last sentence. "Where are you blankets?"

"I gave them to you?" The informant chuckled, composing himself. "Wasn't it obvious?"

The bodyguard's eyes narrowed. Had the flea done something to them? "Why?"

The informant sighed, throwing his arms out dramatically. "Why are you always asking me that? Shizu-chan didn't even answer the last time I asked why."

"Fine, damn flea."

"Yes yes. Now go do whatever you're going to do. I have work," Izaya told him impatiently as he got off the floor, stretching uncomfortably as his back whined in protest.

"You're not going out today?"

"Silly Shizu-chan, I have work. It's on my computer. Why do I need to go out? Unless," he grinned, "you're asking me out on date with you?"

"Why the hell would I do that?" Shizuo snapped, almost making a grab for the frame of Izaya's bed. "Fine, whatever. Do what you like."

"Okay! I shall go work then! Bye bye Shizu-chan!" Izaya waved violently as the bodyguard turned and stormed out of the apartment. The informant sighed and sat back down on his bed, picking up his laptop and examining it. "I wonder if he'll bring something back to eat… Nah, I have plenty of canned food in the pantry somewhere."

.

"So how was your first night together?" Shinra asked eagerly on the other line.

"That just sounds wrong," the bodyguard muttered irritably back, relaxing on the vacant park bench he had finally found that wasn't either occupied by some couple or destroyed by him sometime in the past.

"Hm… I hear birds. Are you at the park?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! On a date with Izaya, huh?"

'What's wrong with these two?' Shizuo's hand tightened around the phone. "I left him in the apartment."

"What? Shizuo, the point of you staying with him is to get him to go out."

"You never told me that!" Shizuo sighed. "Look, I want him to return to normal, but even you have to understand, there's only so much I'm willing to do."

"Oh, but there's a lot that you can do, if you're up for it."

"You… are starting to scare me."

Shinra laughed. "Hey, don't worry, I'm a doctor. I only have your well-beings in mind."

"Right…"

"So how was the couch?"

Shizuo suddenly remembered the scene from this morning. "He gave me his blanket and pillow and slept without them on the floor."

"On the floor? Was there anything else out of place?"

"Yeah, he had his laptop out, but it was off."

"Hm…"

Shizuo sighed, lighting his cigarette. "This is hopeless."

"Don't you want the old Izaya back?" the doctor asked him.

"Hell no!"

"But you…"

"I just want to kill him, okay?"

"Isn't this the perfect time? You're both in the same apartment, and Izaya's a little out of it."

"It's because he's out of it that I'm…" he paused, thinking for the right word.

"You're hesitating? Oh, what a big heart, Shizuo!"

"Shut up! It just… It just doesn't seem right. If I did anything to him now, I'd feel like I was hurting someone else."

"Hm, so that's how it is…"

Shizuo sighed. "That's how it is. Hey, don't laugh!"

"I'm not," the doctor lied. "Well, if you want to help that much, you'd better bring your own blankets and pillow when you go back tonight."

The bodyguard considered that thought. True, it wasn't too much trouble, and he wouldn't be in any further danger from whatever strange drug Izaya might have put into the sheets. "There's still no way I'm babysitting him like you suggested," Shizuo grumbled.

.

"_Try checking on him in the middle of the night."_

Shizuo quietly checked the time on his phone in the dark: 4:30 in the morning.

The bodyguard sighed, wondering if it was even worth following the doctor's advice, as he slipped out of the comfort of his makeshift bed and headed for Izaya's bedroom. He listened first for any signs of life and then slowly opened the door, moving as silently as he could towards the bed.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he finally found the informant, sleeping sideways on the bed against the pillow propped up against the wall, his laptop once again only a few inches from him. The blankets were kicked towards the foot of the bed, in danger of falling off.

'Okay…' Shizuo decided to leave, deciding to reprimand the doctor later for forcing him to wake in the middle of the night only to observe the informant's odd way of sleeping. He had work early in the morning, and, now that he had interrupted his sleep, the debtors today were not going to be happy.

The bodyguard returned at midnight that day, sleepy and extremely agitated at the large amount of idiots he had to throw around while sleep-deprived. Seeing no informant in the office area and the bedroom door closed, Shizuo just headed straight for the bathroom to wash up. He emerged half an hour later, clean and a little more relaxed, but still tired.

Shizuo headed straight for the sofa when he suddenly heard the soft shifting of blankets from Izaya's room. He shrugged. 'Probably just his weird way of sleeping.'

"Stop…" he heard, just barely, and looked back at the door, frowning. Sighing, Shizuo walked over and tapped lightly.

"Hey Izaya?" He received no answer. Shizuo stared at the door. He could just turn around, and immerse himself in the sweet comfort of sleep, or he could sneak into his mortal enemy's room to spy on him sleeping. Curiosity got the better of him. 'I'm never going to hear the end of it from Shinra…' the bodyguard thought as he turned the door handle.

To his surprise, Izaya was sleeping quite normally this time. At least, he wasn't curled up against anything, and had his head on the pillow and his body actually under the blankets. Shizuo stared at the sleeping informant for a second before turning around to leave, annoyed that it had been a false alarm.

"No… stop…" he suddenly heard again and whirled around. He squinted through the darkness and finally managed to make out a clearly picture of his surroundings; the informant was sleeping on his side, legs bent and hands slowly clawing at the bed sheets.

'Nightmare?'

"Please… someone…"

Shizuo looked at the desk and saw the familiar laptop, along with a pile of other things such as books, files, and reading materials. He suddenly understood.

"Someone…"

"Izaya?" Shizuo called out uncertainly before walking closer to the bed, but the informant continued to shift around in his sleep, his breathing becoming increasing agitated. "Izaya!" he tried again, this time louder and more firm.

The informant's eyes snapped open, wide and fearful, and he moved back, pulling his blanket over his head to shield himself from the perceived danger with only his eyes visible to the outside world. "Please, don't… go away…"

Shizuo stared at him. This was ridiculous; he didn't want to babysit a flea with nightmares. "Izaya, you were dreaming."

The informant blinked at him for a second before coming to a realization and relaxing, just a little. "What time is it?"

"Almost one."

"In the morning?"

"In the morning," he repeated.

"What is Shizu-chan doing in my room?"

"You were making too much noise!"

"No I wasn't. I was just sleeping peacefully…"

"Don't try to play it off," the bodyguard growled. "Now get out from under there and sleep properly." He tried to yank the blanket off of the informant, but Izaya only held it closer around himself.

"I'll just sleep like this."

"In other words, you'll stay up all night on your computer until it overheats and turns off?"

Izaya looked away guiltily when he hit the mark, and the blankets around the informant loosened just a bit. The bodyguard took the chance to yank them off with a quick pull, revealing a sweat drenched man who shivered slightly under the sudden onslaught of cold air.

Izaya chuckled when he saw the bodyguard's contemplating gaze. "It was supposed to get better after Alastair was gone."

"So you finally admit it?"

"Yeah…" Izaya looked away. "It just keeps on getting worse." He sighed, lying down with his back to the bodyguard. "It's just going to keep on getting worse, Shizu-chan."

* * *

Hello! Ah… Life caught up to me T.T so I won't be updating as frequently from now on. I'm going to try to manage at least one chapter a week and definitely one more on Tuesday before I lose my internet for several days.

Thanks for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Izaya closed his eyes. "I'm going back to sleep. Give me back my blanket if you want. I don't care."

Hearing the challenge, Shizuo threw the blanket back onto the informant, his fingers just barely brushing Izaya's face as he straightened the comforter. 'Hm?'

Against his better judgment, the bodyguard returned his hand to the informant's cheek, feeling the predictable tensing from the other. "You're cold."

"How could I not be cold? You took my blankets!" Izaya snapped back, and Shizuo felt the other relax, just a little.

Shizuo watched the other silently for a while, allowing himself to sit on the edge of the bed. To his surprise, the informant's breathing gradually calmed until he suddenly heard a light snore, indicating that Izaya had really fallen asleep even though his greatest enemy in the world was in the same room.

Shizuo suddenly felt cheated. He was supposed to be the one to kill the flea, the one to stop the informant's breathing with his own hands. Yet, this Alastair that no longer existed in their world, this Dullahan that had even managed to control the beast of Ikebukuro, had singlehandedly battered the informant's mind so badly that he can no longer carry on daily life without running into some sort of trauma related to that day a month ago.

Shizuo remembered all the injuries he had caused the flea, few as they where, obvious marks patched up by Shinra briefly after. But, this Dullahan had nearly destroyed the informant with a single loose action: giving Izaya to a bunch of thugs who owed rent. Shizuo hated it.

"He should've just killed you," Shizuo growled. "Then I would've gone and killed him."

.

Today Izaya woke up normally. He got out of bed, did his morning business, changed, and then sat on his chair in the living room. He turned on the computer, like he always did, and then scanned through the emails, not bothering to open any of them. The informant looked away from his untouched work out the window to the bustling streets below before returning his gaze to his hands, to the dark of his apartment, finally sighing.

Shizuo arrived back at the apartment early, opening the door tranquilly since today nearly everyone had decided to pay their debts. Tom had treated him to a quick dinner in celebration, and he even had enough leftover to bring back. Yup, today was a good day.

He spotted the informant almost instantly, seated in the usual chair, and walked over after dropping off the leftovers in the kitchen, annoyed that Izaya still hadn't greeted him in some shape or form, even though he really wasn't expecting anything.

"Hey, flea!"

Shizuo bit his lip when he didn't receive a response and his brain immediately processed what wasn't there: pill bottles, sharp objects, blood trails from the informant's sleeves. Frowning, he walked around the desk and shook Izaya violently. "Hey! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Unfocused eyes stared back at him. "What's wrong, Shizu-chan?"

The bodyguard suddenly noticed the other's flushed cheeks and felt the informant's forehead, surprised at the lack of a response from the flea. "You have a fever, you idiot."

"Oh… no wonder it's so cold…" Izaya muttered, closing his eyes.

"Hey wake up and walk to your room! Don't sleep here!"

Obeying, or at least, trying to obey, the informant hopped out of his chair and immediately saw the carpet coming at him. 'Oh, that's soft… like my bed… Shizu-chan shouldn't mind…' He felt an arm around him, stopping his descent. 'Warm…' He closed his eyes.

.

Izaya slowly opened his eyes, dizzy, but almost smiling that he had finally managed a nice sleep without any nightmares despite the fact that it was fever induced.

"Stop smiling like that, you idiot."

"Well that's not a very nice thing to say," he responded out to the unknown as everything finally snapped back into place. Izaya sat up a little too quickly, falling back down as another wave of dizziness hit him and the ice bag rolled off his head. Groaning, he looked to his bedside table, finding an unmarked bottle of pills.

"Shinra came over earlier," Shizuo explained.

"Oh."

The bodyguard sighed, tearing at his hair lightly in frustration. "What the hell's wrong with you? He said you're malnourished."

"Well, if you only ate canned food once a day, you'd be too."

Shizuo blinked at him. "When's the last time you went grocery shopping?"

"Namie did it for me."

"Last time you ate out?" he rephrased.

"Last month."

"So you've been living off of canned food ever since you got back?"

"Pretty much." Izaya closed his eyes as a wave of nausea hit him. "I haven't gone out very much lately, remember?"

"Then it's time you started going outside!"

Izaya opened his eyes again, focusing them on Shizuo's warm brown irises. "Why are you so insistent, Shizu-chan? Give me one good reason why you're doing this."

"Sheesh, so you can stop acting like such a…"

"Scared little flea?" Izaya finished for him. "And then you can kill me without holding back?"

"Tch…" Shizuo broke the eye contact by looking at the wall away from the informant.

"You should just kill me now. I don't get why you're so hesitant. I've done enough things to you to fill a dictionary."

"That Dullahan's only done one, and now you're like this," Shizuo retorted.

Izaya fell silent.

The bodyguard sighed. "Now that we're on the topic, there's something I've been wondering."

"And that is?"

"What the hell did you do wrong with the Dullahan?"

Izaya grinned. "I miscalculated. Done it before."

"Then why didn't you break down before?"

Izaya sat up slowly, leaning his back against his pillow. "There's a difference between humans and Dullahan's, Shizu-chan."

"But it wasn't Alastair that…" he stopped, not knowing what would happen if he brought up any more. "Just what are you afraid of?"

"I don't know…" Izaya answered truthfully, shrugging. "Any other questions?"

Shizuo sighed. "Forget it, just eat." He stood up and left, leaving the door opened behind him. Izaya finally noticed the bowl of porridge next to his bed, and picked it up, finding its contents still warm.

The bodyguard returned half an hour later, plopping himself down on the chair he had dragged next to the bed. Izaya placed his book down. "Yes?"

"I have another question."

"What might that be?"

Shizuo hesitated before opening his mouth. "Don't you ever feel guilty?"

"Why would I?" Izaya responded fluidly, honestly not knowing what the other was referring to. There were a lot of things he'd done that a normal person would feel guilty about, but not him.

"Because you're a bastard who causes trouble for everyone."

"Oh!" Izaya chuckled, realizing that Shizuo referred to all the things that he had done. "I don't find that something to fret over at all."

The bodyguard's eyes narrowed predictably. "So you really do enjoy messing with people."

Izaya shrugged. "Humans are interesting. They have so many different expressions and reactions to trouble."

"What about their reactions to happiness?"

"That's boring," the informant said, his grin widening when he saw the shocked expression on the other's face. "There's nothing deep in happiness. You're just blissful, without a care in the world."

"Tch… so you do enjoy watching people suffer…"

"No, I enjoy what they do in response to their suffering." He fingered his book, playing with its pages. "I like seeing them go through the process, thinking over and over again how they can fix something that's hopelessly wrong. Why should I do that? Why should I do this? What would happen? Would she be mad? Would he hate me? It's exhilarating."

Shizuo sighed, giving up. "You sick bastard…"

Izaya laughed. "That's just who I am. I can understand what Alastair was thinking. We really aren't that different, you know. It's just that I like to prolong things. Oh, and I know that once you permanently break someone, you can't do much with that person anymore. For example, 'dying' is a way to permanently breaking."

Shizuo studied the informant's face for any change in expression but found none as Izaya continued to look at him in expectation of more questions. He decided to go for it, since the flea seemed so cooperative now that he had a fever. "What about you? Are you what you called permanently broken?"

The informant looked away. "I don't know… To fix something, you find out what's wrong right? I… I honestly don't know exactly what's wrong."

"You're not making any sense. You were hurt, so that must be…"

"No, Shizu-chan," Izaya interrupted him. "Take a clock for example. If you hit the clock with a hammer and it stops working, you know what caused it to stop, but you don't know which spring is broken. It might not even be a spring; it could be something else."

Shizuo bit his lip. "And that's you?"

Izaya shrugged again. "I don't know…" He put the book aside, deciding to crawl back under the covers. "I'm… a little worried about finding out."

"You're scared," Shizuo rephrased it for him.

Izaya thought for a second, suddenly remembering that sense of helplessness back in the… he shivered, instinctively pulling the covers up a little higher. Izaya Orihara, the infamous mastermind of most things that go wrong in Ikebukuro was…

"I'm scared," he confirmed, his voice barely audible.

* * *

Hello! I'm still packing and packing… Okay, so I'll be leaving tomorrow, so the next update will hopefully be up sometime next week after I get used to the jetlag and scout out internet locations. I'll see you soon then! Good luck to all who have already started school!

Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"_It's getting worse. The nightmares… I feel like I'm reliving it every night… and every time it becomes even more real than before…"_

Shizuo quietly watched the informant sleep, patiently waiting for the expected onslaught of nightmares that Izaya had claimed to experience daily, wanting to see if it had gotten any better. He had assigned himself this task only an hour ago shortly after he had convinced the flea to put his book down and rest. However, sleepiness and patience didn't quite mix with the bodyguard, and he found himself rocking back and forth in his chair, trying hard not to tap his feet as he watched the clock on the wall reach 2 in the morning.

A beep on his phone nearly made him fall off his chair.

"How is he?" Shinra's name appeared across the screen along with the message.

"Crazy doctor. How did he know that I'm still awake?" Shizuo grumbled. "Sleeping," he texted back.

"Has his fever gone down?"

"Yeah, but he still has a temperature."

"Okay."

Shizuo frowned at the doctor's initiation of the end of the conversation; he definitely wasn't finished with his own questions yet, now that he had someone to talk to relieve his boredom. "How much longer is the damned flea going to be like this?"

The text came back a little slower this time. "It depends on the person."

"Well this is Izaya. It shouldn't be this long."

"Even Izaya is human, Shizuo."

"Sheesh," the bodyguard hissed out loud. "Can it be permanent?" he typed.

"Only if he makes it permanent."

"How?"

"Don't give him any ideas."

"Stop giving me vague answers."

"I'm not." Shizuo could almost see the happy face Shinra decided not to put. "Watch him carefully."

"Tch." Shizuo put the phone back in his pocket. 'Of course it can't be permanent, not while he's alive anyway…' He stopped at that thought momentarily before shaking his head, sighing. "Stupid flea."

A slight shift in the bed sheets brought him back from his thoughts, and the bodyguard blinked at the sight. Izaya had turned, now sleeping on his side, facing Shizuo. There was no frown, no tense muscles, no sweat, just a flea peacefully sleeping away his fever. It was almost kind of cute, an informant that lacked the usual mischievous smile and scheming gaze that seemed to laugh at the world. A flea like this, he was okay with.

"You're a lot more tolerable when you're sleeping," Shizuo whispered, poking Izaya's face, earning a slight frown from the informant. "Did you always sleep like this? Without the nightmares of course."

He shook his head, sighing. His purpose was to make the informant go back to the way he was before, not try to keep him in his state. "What snapped halfway that made you into such a jerk?"

He thought back to the first time they had seen each other, years ago at school. He had just known, no questions asked, that this person who looked back at him was going to be the worst thing that had ever happened to him. It wasn't everyday that you'd meet someone like that. The flea had eyes that penetrated straight through you with no doors of their own.

Shizuo remembered those same eyes when he had found the informant, lying helplessly on the ground and resolved to death. It wasn't that his eyes then were completely naked, open to the outside world, but they were the most human that Shizuo had seen them. Too human actually. It was something the bodyguard saw often in his line of work, especially whenever he snapped and uprooted an innocent object of public property to swing or throw at the target: the simple emotion of fear. But, there was also something else that he remembered seeing that he couldn't read. He wondered now if it was the same thing that Izaya couldn't pinpoint. It was all so confusing…

Shizuo woke with a start when he heard a groan, realizing that he had fallen asleep. Izaya was in the same position as before, but he suddenly curled in, and a grimace swept across his face. The bodyguard watched as the informant's breathing quickened, hands softly clenched around the bed sheets. It was almost a spectacle to see the informant in such a state, and Shizuo watched with bated breath, waiting. 'Every night, huh?' The breathing turned to gasps, sweat rolled down the informant's cheeks and neck, and…

'Tears?'

At this point, Shizuo had seen enough and gave the informant a shake. "Hey, wake up." However, Izaya continued sleeping, flinching away from the bodyguard's hand.

"Izaya!" Shizuo grabbed him again in an attempt to wake him up.

"No… Stop it…"

He didn't want to see this. If being human meant becoming this vulnerable and pathetic, then he didn't want this, this shell of a man he couldn't kill because of his own damn principles. "Damn flea, wake up!"

The informant's eyes snapped open, and he jumped away, landing on the opposite edge of the bed, breathing heavily. "Shi… Shizu-chan?" he stammered.

"Sheesh," Shizuo sighed as he went around the bed to the other side.

"No… stay away…" the informant breathed.

"Huh?"

"Don't…" Izaya started moving away from him, slightly unfocused eyes glazed over with fear.

Shizuo gritted his teeth. He was tired, so tired of it all. Maybe the informant was acting. Yeah, that's what it was. There was no way it could be this bad. Fuck principles, he should just be done with it. "Izaya, it was a dream," he said slowly, waiting for the informant's reaction.

"Please don't…"

"Don't what?" he snapped.

"Hurt me…" The words hit took him by surprise.

'What the…' Shizuo stopped, taking back all his tired mind had said. "Why would I…"

"You were…"

"Izaya, what did you dream about?"

"Cold…"

'Was it… that time?' The bodyguard frowned. "What did I do in your dream?"

The informant only crawled further away, hands up to shield himself from the nonexistent danger.

"Izaya… This is getting out of hand…"

"I… I know!" the informant stammered but kept his position in spite of himself. "But… I can't stop… This is so…"

"Izaya…" The bodyguard brought a hand closer to the informant, who pulled away again. "Izaya, what did I do?"

His attempt at calming the other down only made Izaya suddenly made a run for it, jumping out of the bed and running across the room, throwing open the window. The informant climbed onto the ledge that separated himself and the concrete floor at least a dozen stories below, looking for a way out and away from the bodyguard.

Now, the informant hadn't been moving around too much the past month, and his muscles had lost their usual grace needed for such feats. He wasn't completely inadequate at moving around of course, but a well placed roll of thunder from the sky sent him clean over the edge as he flinched in the wrong direction.

"Izaya!" The informant felt hands grab him and pull him back into his room, propelling the both of them to the floor. "Okay, just calm down! Damn it flea!"

Shizuo felt the man freeze under him and suddenly break down into shivers from the contact. "Izaya…" he gently repeated the informant's name now that he was a little calmer. "No one's going to hurt you. I'm here. I'm not going to hurt you. Izaya…"

The informant struggled to get away, nearly choking from his decreased intake of air due to his panicking.

"Calm down… breath… I'm right here…" Shizuo repeated. To his surprise, a hand clutched at his shirt, supporting the informant as he tried to regain his breath. He rubbed Izaya's back awkwardly in a circular motion, hoping it was some sort of distressing massage technique that he had never learned. It seemed to work anyway as the informant finally managed to regulate his breathing.

Eventually, the shivers stopped, and Shizuo heard the lightest of chuckles, an exhausted, hopeless sound. "Shizu-chan…"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you save me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You live to kill me."

"Don't think you're that important, flea."

"Your actions suggest otherwise."

"Shut up."

Izaya laughed again as he closed his eyes, calmly feeling the warmth around him. This was good. This was safe. He was too tired to think anyway, fever and all.

The bodyguard realized that the informant had gone back to the dream world without him and slowly placed the man back onto the bed, lying down himself, exhausted from the ordeal and the fact that it was 3:30 in the morning. Cursing at the flea, he closed his own eyes and hugged the tranquil informant tighter so that Izaya wouldn't do anything stupid before Shizuo woke up, finally letting sleep take him for the night.

.

Izaya awoke with the vaguest sense of confusion dragging at his consciousness. It was warm, a little too warm. A light snore on his neck reminded him.

"Shizu-chan?" he said softly, not wanting to be crushed by the bodyguard if Shizuo were to awake too suddenly. However, he got no response as the other slept on. He sighed, "Really…"

The feeling of another's touch on his skin unnerved him. He suddenly remembered hands, hands that pressed him down, suffocating him, and he fought with himself to stay focused on the bodyguard.

"Shizu-chan?" he tried again, this time desperate to get out of the other's embrace. His efforts only made the bodyguard hug his human body pillow even tighter, encasing Izaya in a nearly crushing warmth. The informant closed his eyes, panicking freely now, as he tried to keep his thoughts in line.

"_I'm not going to hurt you."_

The informant stopped, suddenly remembering last night, vague as his fever had made it. Focusing on that one phrase, he willed his muscles to relax.

"_I'm not going to hurt you."_

"Really?" he fought, burying his face into that warmth. It was… different. Comforting.

After a few minutes, the informant finally let out a long sigh of victory, refocusing on Shizuo's sleeping face. In this state, the bodyguard was still kind of fun to look at. He weakly poked at the dyed strands of hair, surprised to find them still quite soft. Anyone who didn't know about the power this sleeping giant had might have dived in instantly for the kill. Izaya grinned, knowing that he himself had probably made enough of a reputation for Shizuo that no one would ever go near him with those intentions in fear for their lives. The idea made Izaya feel slightly… possessive. He frowned when he realized the implication that had. "This is stupid," he hissed under his breath, and the bodyguard finally stirred.

"What the?" Shizuo gasped as he jumped off the bed, away from the informant. He hadn't thought of the consequences if the informant were to wake first and see them in that position.

"What's with that reaction?" Izaya laughed. "You nearly crush me in your sleep, and that's all you have to say?"

"What I mean is… I must have been too tired last night, and you were making too much noise."

Izaya sighed. "Oh dear. I must make sure not to be so loud then."

"I'm warning you, flea. Make one wrong joke, and I'll…"

"Okay okay!" the informant raised his hands up in defeat. "I wasn't planning to anyway."

"Good…" Shizuo looked away, still feeling his heartbeat pounding in his chest. Sure, he had hugged the damned flea many times by now to calm in down, but never would he had thought that he would be so careless as to fall asleep in that position. He was just so damned tired.

"Hey Shizu-chan?"

"What?" he snapped, making the informant cringe.

"Um… actually, I take that back. I've completely forgotten what I wanted to say."

"You…"

"Really!" Izaya grinned before dropping the façade and looking away. "But… I suppose I owe you a display of gratitude."

Shizuo's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. The flea was thanking him? Why in the world would the flea be thanking him?

"For what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Saving me?"

"Save it."

"Aw, Shizu-chan doesn't want my gratitude."

"Shut up."

The informant laughed again, lying back down on his bed, closing his eyes yet again. "Shizu-chan was so warm. I almost couldn't see anything."

* * *

Hello again! Sorry for the late update! The only place where I have internet is at the university and most of the time I'm in class or talking to people, and wonderful jetlag is very powerful indeed X.X Hm… So I'm not 100 percent sure how long it will take for updates, but I will try to at least post once a week or so.

Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Shizuo frowned at the informant. "Hey, don't go back to sleep!"

"But I'm sick," Izaya whined, pulling the blankets back over him. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to go out of my way to walk around outside in the pouring rain."

The bodyguard looked out of the window, finally realizing that it was raining outside. The sound of the thunder last night that almost sent the flea tumbling down to his death below slightly crossed his mind. He sighed, defeated. "Fine, but you have to go out after you get better."

"From what? The cold? My abnormal fear of humans? You have to be more specific, Shizu-chan."

"Your fever, you idiot!" he snapped.

"Ah, such animosity," the informant chuckled as he snuggled deeper into his pillow, content with the warmth left behind. Shizuo watched him, and the strangest of feelings went through his chest; he didn't want to pinpoint exactly where. Was it pain? Impossible. He had long forgotten the feeling of pain. It must be one of the flea's tricks.

"Stop that," he told the other firmly.

"Stop what?" the informant asked groggily.

'So it wasn't him…' The bodyguard frowned, wondering just what was bothering him so much. "Your pillow?" he attempted. 'What the hell? Why the pillow?'

"What's wrong with me enjoying the comfort of my own pillow?" Izaya returned.

Shizuo glared at him, still unsure of what exactly was wrong. "Just stop it."

The informant closed his eyes, turning away from the bodyguard, too sleepy to play around with words at the moment. "Whatever you say, Shizu-chan." He started drifting back into the comfort of dreamless slumber only to be interrupted again by the bodyguard, who had spoken only so that he could get his mind off the current situation.

"Aren't you afraid of sleeping?"

"Why would I? I'm sick," Izaya responded, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Yeah… but you said that…"

"Well I know that Shizu-chan will wake up me."

Shizuo opened his mouth to respond and closed it, unsure of what to say. The informant, now no longer distracted, drifted back into slumber promptly, the blankets over him rising and falling peacefully. "I won't always be here to wake you up…" he finally muttered to the sleeping flea.

.

Izaya woke to the tapping of rain on his balcony, yawning as he confirmed the condition of his fever: gone. He rubbed his eyes before looking over to the clock that read 1 in the afternoon.

"Shizu-chan?" the informant called out as he left his bedroom, not bothering to change out of the comfort of his pajamas. "Hm, not here?" He looked into the kitchen only to find a box of take-out, still warm, with a note.

"Eat this or I'll kill you. How quaint," the informant chuckled as he opened the box. He admitted, for something that had been left out for a few hours, not to mention something bought by his greatest enemy for him, it wasn't half bad. He would've preferred something Shizuo cooked though, just for the experience.

As if he were psychic, the sound of a turning key from the front door announced the return of the bodyguard, followed by a loud slam.

"Please refrain from breaking my door again," Izaya told him from the kitchen.

"Hey I wasn't the one who broke it!" Shizuo snapped, following the other's voice into the room.

"Also, please refrain from damaging my carpet with rainwater. The towels are in the cupboard next to the shower," he continued when the other emerged from the living room door.

"Will you ever shut up?" Shizuo sighed.

"No," the answer came easily. "Now if you'd please?"

"Sheesh." To Izaya's surprise, the bodyguard left the room, and another slam told Izaya that the other had entered the shower.

"Shizu-chan's getting tame," he chuckled to himself. "How boring."

.

Shizuo emerged from his bath to find the flea on the sofa, reading yet again. Frowning, he walked over, stopping when the informant put down his book.

"Yes?"

"Uh… well…" Shizuo began a little awkwardly. Now that he found himself talking to a nearly healthy flea, he didn't quite know how to address the previous night and the display this morning. He had used the shower earlier as an excuse, but that was over with already. But, maybe he was lucky. Maybe Izaya had already forgotten.

"You're not wearing your silly suit for once!" the informant stated cheerfully, breaking the silence with something besides the subject he wanted to stay away from. However, this was probably not much better.

"What did you say?" growled Shizuo. Absolutely no one is allowed to make fun of the clothing Kazuka gave him, especially since he didn't see his younger brother at all these days. Izaya himself had destroyed quite a few, and now to go as far as to call his bartender clothes "silly" was just asking for it.

"Well you look… normal?" Izaya laughed. "You're reversing!"

"You…" In a flash, Shizuo grabbed the informant around the neck, ready to crush him with the twitch of a finger, and Izaya stared back him, unfazed. "How dare you!" He stopped, realizing what he was doing and let go.

"Hm…" Izaya touched the part of his neck that was now turning red, coughing a little.

Shizuo stared at him, still angry about the previous statement but definitely curious of what he had just witnessed. "You didn't look scared."

"I wasn't…" Izaya confirmed, putting on his thinking face. "Although the fact that you could've really killed me there was a little frightening."

Shizuo suddenly realized what exactly had happened. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Did what?" the informant replied innocently.

"Get me mad."

"No I didn't," Izaya answered, grinning. "You got mad of your own accord."

"Argh, just shut up already!"

"You know I'm unable to do that."

"Fine!"

"Really?"

Shizuo stormed out of the room, and the sound of the apartment shaking from the vibration of the front door against its frame a few seconds later told the informant volumes of where the bodyguard had gone. He sighed. "Great, now Shizu-chan has to take another shower if he comes back."

Unfazed, he moved to the living room once again, looking out the window at the still cloudy but for the moment dry sky. His eyes trailed back to his room, and his usual jacket resting in the open closet door.

.

"Orihara Izaya…"

The informant spun around, sighing that he had not taken that turn several buildings back. The walk had actually been refreshing; he hadn't been outside for so long. "And who might you be?" he asked the four, a wide grin on his face. 'Panic. Don't panic.'

"We heard a little about what happened," one of them said.

"And that you haven't been on the streets lately…" another added.

"Oh, you know, work gets pretty hectic sometimes. Oops, I take that back," Izaya continued, pushing the familiar wave of discomfort aside, thinking back, drawing from what had been the norm for him, for Izaya Orihara. "You guys don't have proper jobs anyway."

"You little…" the first man growled.

"Wait," his buddy stopped him and instead started advancing on the informant. "Well, even without our jobs, it's pretty easy to figure out what had happened to you."

"And what might that be?" Izaya boldly urged him.

"Well… it was just a rumor from one of the smaller gangs that they had… caught you for a night or two."

Izaya flinched, nearly dropping his façade. With some effort, he maintained it, deciding that he will deal with the survivors soon, given that he was able to get out of this bind. "I don't know where they could have gotten that idea," he replied.

"Oh? Then let's test that theory, shall we?" the man said, putting a hand on the informant's shoulder.

_Hands… _Izaya froze. _Hands pinning him down, cold hands…_

"Am I right?" he sneered, moving closer.

_The hands were on him… and the pain… He remembered… pain… Hands… Hands around him, gentle, warm…_

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya muttered under his breath when he realized that he had involuntarily used the bodyguard as an anchor.

"Now let's see just what's under all that arrogance of yours…" The man yelled as a searing pain in his arm cut him short. Izaya hopped back nimbly and twirled the knife in his hands, grinning like a cat.

The others looked at each before shouting their war cries and brandishing their makeshift weapons: a bar from some piece of machinery left at some dump, and of course switchblades for the kill.

Izaya dodged the blades easily enough, bringing his own knife down whenever it pleased him to inflict a wound. He reveled in the feeling of freedom from it all, the ease of movement he had so sorely missed this past month. However, that feeling was suddenly cut short as he made a misstep, and a sudden pressure on his head brought him down, knocking the wind out of him.

"You think you're all that?" the man yelled, breathing heavily from adrenaline while clutching his now blood stained bar.

"Actually, I think I should ask you that question," Izaya said from the ground, jumping back on his feet with a huge amount of effort before delivering one well-placed slash straight through muscles of the man's hand. The bar fell to the ground with its owner's scream, and the informant kicked it away, the familiar grin now back on his face.

"You… you monster!" the man yelled, clutching his hand.

"Oh?" Izaya took a step towards him.

"We'll… we'll kill you!"

"Really now?" The others gasped when he took out his phone. "Then should I make this phone call, I wonder?" Izaya asked them, ignoring the pain in his head and recalling the exact name he was looking for to deal with punks on the street.

As he predicted, the four looked at each other nervously before dropping whatever they carried and running off in the opposite direction in top speed, hoping that the informant did not remember their faces nor knew their names.

The informant looked from the men's retreating backs back to his own knife, calmly observing the red liquid dripping off of it before retracting the object and walking in the opposite direction. He hit the first wall a few buildings away, leaning against it for support, before breaking into a hysterically laughter and pushing himself away, continuing on his merry way back.

The sky began to cry.

.

"Izaya!" Shizuo yelled, refraining from cursing the world for putting him through this. He wiped the rain water uselessly off his face, trying to recall anything unusual he had seen in those brief moments back at the apartment: none, only the flea was missing. True, he had wanted the informant to go out for once, but he really didn't expect it to happen so soon.

The bodyguard continued his search, driven by both exhilaration at the possibility of the flea returning to normal and something else he couldn't pinpoint, couldn't accept. Worry? Why the hell would he be worried? "If someone else killed the flea before I did…" he growled, pushing the emotion towards a different path.

He turned the corner and continued running through the alleys, glancing back and forth for any sign of the usual fur jacket and red eyes. He ran past a shadow walking towards him only to do a full stop, nearly sliding on the wet cement, and backtrack.

"Izaya?" he growled when the informant finally walked into dim lamplight, a giant grin on his face.

"Shizu-chan…" Izaya greeted him, his voice a little too strained for the bodyguard's tastes.

"Where the hell did you go?"

"Out? Didn't you want me to?" the informant asked him, leaning on the wall next to him, eyes half-lidded. "It wasn't too bad, I ran into a few of my… acquaintances…" He chuckled, tossing a little black object to Shizuo, who caught it.

The bodyguard eyed the switchblade carefully, looking back at the informant for any signs of ill-intent. To his surprise, he found none. He flicked the blade open, finding it coated in blood.

"You managed to fight back," he said, pondering.

Izaya laughed. "Is it that incredible? Unfortunately, I'm still a little too rusty for my own good."

Shizuo closed the blade and looked back at the informant, finally noticing the crucial piece of the scene he had missed due to the still pouring rain: a trail of blood that ran down the side of the informant's head. "Hey are you…"

Izaya chuckled and pushed himself away from the wall, willing his feet to move towards the bodyguard, determined to no longer rely on him. However, the wave of nausea was too much for even him to take, and he found the ground rushing up to take him. As he predicted, the other caught him yet again, and he found his body leaving the ground yet again, like he was flying.

Izaya closed his eyes, grimacing at the tightening in his chest. "This is…" He lost consciousness.

* * *

Hello! Ah, I feel the pain of internet deprivation syndrome X_X and bug bites… I've already lost count of how many bug bites I have. Am I that tasty? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter though!

Thanks for reading! And thanks for reviewing! I'm so happy that you enjoy this!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"If only I charged you for my services," Shinra sighed at Izaya, who shrugged and continued drinking his cup of tea, his head neatly bandaged. "So I heard that you went out by yourself?"

"We can see how well that went," Shizuo muttered.

"Pretty well actually," the informant cut in.

Shinra turned back to him. "You really fought them off?"

"Well I'm still alive, aren't I?" Izaya returned.

The doctor regarded him for a moment. "Hm… so that means…"

"I'm healed!" the informant concluded happily.

"You're healing," Shinra corrected him.

"Healed," the informant fought back, making the doctor sigh yet again, sensing the fight coming on as the bodyguard beside him shifted.

"If you were healed, then you wouldn't have gotten that wound in the first place!" Shizuo joined in.

"Thank you," the doctor said, turning back to Izaya.

"Really now…" It was the informant's turn to sigh. "Did you want to stay in my apartment that badly? You could've just asked."

"What? No way, flea!" the bodyguard snapped at him.

Izaya gave him a mischievous grin. "Then you're worried?"

"Of course I was worried! What if some other bastard killed you first?" The other two looked at him silently, surprised at the outburst.

"I feel so privileged," Izaya finally laughed. "Shizu-chan wants to kill me that badly."

"Isn't that obvious," the other hissed.

"Now now," Shinra tried to calm the blond down. "Let's not…"

"Then why didn't you already do it?" Izaya struck the final blow, the laughter beginning to leave his voice.

"It's because you're…" Shizuo began.

"Because I'm sick? Is that why?"

Shinra bit his lip, not expecting the conversation to turn this way.

"You are sick! Look at you!" the bodyguard continued relentlessly. "Freaking staying at home all day and not sleeping at night!"

"It's not like I can help it! You had to butt into my life and disturb everything!"

"If it weren't for me, you'd still be back in that room, eaten alive by those punks!"

"Shizuo!" Shinra yelled at him, but the informant had already fallen silent, turning away from them and throwing the covers back over his head. On the other hand, the bodyguard got up from where he was, storming towards the bed. "Shizuo, wait!" the doctor tried, but the other pushed him aside effortlessly.

"What? Trying to fake sleeping now?"

"Stop it Shizu-chan…" Izaya warned him, putting his hands over his ears, but Shizuo only spoke louder.

"You're just constantly running away from the problem. You and your stupid pride's too stubborn to admit that it's because of that that you're like this. Healing? What the hell are you doing fixing something blindly like that? It's just going to come back again and again! You might have fought them off this time, but what if you can't ignore the problem next time? Then…"

"Oh, yeah? You know everything don't you? What am I supposed to do? Confront them myself? That's not how things work for normal people, Shizu-chan," Izaya snapped at him, throwing the covers off and facing the bodyguard, matching the other's glare. Shinra looked from one to the other, completely lost at what he should do or say or who he should help. However, the informant settled the argument by lowering his eyes first. "But I'm not normal…"

"Wait, Izaya…" Shinra finally cut in. "Shizuo's just trying to tell you that you're not completely healed yet, and that you shouldn't assume that the next time you run into trouble, you'd get out in one piece."

"Yeah, why'd you go and jump to a crazy conclusion like that?" Shizuo added, having calmed a bit himself from the informant's illogical outburst. "No way I'd want you going back there."

Izaya sighed, falling back onto his pillow, his head spinning from the ordeal. He bit his lip. He had lost his temper. He had lost control. It was the most unnerving thing that could happen to him, losing control. He closed his eyes, ignoring the two in the room in favor of sleep.

He had also lost control of the situation that night, one month ago, and he had no control over his own body since then. Now that he was away from the danger, he was losing control of his own thoughts. 'So this is what I'm afraid of…' He almost laughed.

He feigned sleep, waiting for the two to leave him alone so that he could spend the rest of the day in peace to think things through. Why had he exploded like that? Did he really want to go back to that room, just to prove a point? To prove that he could regain control over a bunch of worthless henchmen that had only accomplished what they did because of a being that was no longer in Japan, probably no longer in this world? The sound of the door opening and closing told him someone had left.

'Finally,' the informant thought, wondering if the other two would come running back in if he decided to bang his head on the wall, just to clear it up a little. It should be okay… His muscles tensed to start moving again when he felt the bed sink just a little, and he froze, keeping his body in check. 'Shinra?'

"Hey…" The gesture was soft, gentle.

'No… Shizuo…'

"Sorry about that…" the bodyguard told him quietly, sincerely. "I didn't mean to bring that up again."

Izaya chose to stay silent.

"It's just that… I don't think ignoring it's going to change anything, even if it worked the first time."

'Ha, of course I knew that…'

"And you really scared me back there, getting that hole in your head. I mean… I got hit by a pole before and…"

'What the hell? Stop lecturing me already.'

"You're so fragile. It was like anything could shatter you."

Izaya got ready to spring up and give the bodyguard a well-deserved punch to the guts.

"I know it's weird, but I was kind of scared. You're not supposed to be bleed so easily."

'Well excuse me…' Izaya nearly hissed out loud.

"I don't know why, but it really pissed me off…"

'Anything pisses you off.'

"… someone else hurting you like that…"

This time he really did open an eye, caught completely off guard.

"Oh, you really weren't sleeping," the bodyguard commented, unfazed.

"Why did you say that?" Izaya asked him, venturing further into unknown territory.

"Which part?"

"The last part…"

Shizuo shrugged. "Because it's true?"

Izaya studied the other's expression for a moment before giving up and slumping back into his pillows. "Really. Shizu-chan's just too much."

"Hey look at you," the bodyguard retaliated, "I don't even know what to do with you anymore."

"Just treat me the way you did before. I'm healed now, remember?" the informant muttered.

"Not until I see it with my own two eyes."

"Tch." Izaya decided to leave it at that for now.

'Own eyes huh?'

.

"Wait, Izaya, I don't think this is a good idea," Shinra tried, but the informant threw on his jacket anyway. "You don't even know for sure if it's the right place," he continued, following Izaya through the apartment.

"Of course I'm sure. This is my expertise, remember? Gathering information," the informant answered, opening the front door.

"But this isn't how you should use it! Izaya!" he turned to see his girlfriend watching from the living room door, having woken up from the racket. "Celty!"

"_Let him go."_

"But…"

"_Isn't there someone you should be contacting?"_

Shinra grimaced, scrolling throw the names on his phone. "He'd better get there on time."

.

"Who the fuck is it?" the man yelled as he threw open the door. "Oh…" His mouth widened into a smile. "You… Come back to play? This time we'll surely…" A knife across his chest sent him jumping backwards, bleed profusely from the wound. "You bastard!"

"What? Who?" The others in the room turned to look at him.

"What a surprise," one of the men seated on the couch said, grinning. "Was last time not enough? Or, did you want pictures to go with it?"

Izaya glared at him, fighting an internal battle with his nerves. 'Okay… Maybe this wasn't the best idea…' He clenched his weapon, letting his face relax back into its usual grin. 'Too late to turn back now, huh?'

"Actually, I'm here to put an end to your little pretend-gang."

"Pretend?" the man reworded, standing up. "Was it 'pretend' when we handcuffed you and threw you to the table?"

Izaya felt his traitorous body shiver slightly but stood his ground.

The grin widened as he walked over to the table and picked up a pipe. "Was it 'pretend' when I almost broke your legs with this?" He began walking towards the informant, who took a step back despite himself. Izaya had never felt so much self-loathing in his life than now. Then again, he didn't think much about his actions much anyway.

"Was it 'pretend' when I entered you?"

This made the informant freeze, and the man laughed, taking the knife away from him. "Did you really enjoy it so much?" he breathed in the other's ear.

_Hands. Pain. Darkness._

'No… this isn't what I'm afraid of….'

_Cold. Warmth. Uncertainty._

'I'm afraid of…'

Izaya suddenly swatted the intrusive hand away from him, and, in a flash, picked up his blade again and plunged into the man's chest. The man fell, screaming as he clutched at wound in a hopeless attempt to stop the blood. The informant straightened, staring at his blade. The others had gotten to their feet, ready to join in and avenge their dying comrade.

Izaya looked up at the miniature army closing in on him.

'I am afraid.' He clenched the knife tighter. 'But I shouldn't be, because…' He dodged the closest attacker effortlessly, his rusty fluid movements just barely hanging on for the moment. 'Last time… it was because of Alastair.' He elbowed the next man in the face, frantically making a run for the door, but the path was closing too fast. 'I shouldn't be afraid.' He tripped, and hands grabbed at him, heaving him back deeper into the room, towards the table. 'Alastair isn't here any longer. I can get out of this… I can…'

He twirled, kicking away the two that held his feet, and used his freed legs to push himself off the ground and back towards the door. Another hand grabbed his wrist, and he sliced at that, ignoring the scream that accompanied the injury as the man let go of him. He heard a click behind him.

'Damn it, why do they always have guns?'

The sound of wind rushing past him and a familiar roar made him forget all about it.

.

"You idiot!" he heard Shizuo's voice among the sound of breaking wood and bending metal. The bodyguard stormed right to the other and picked him up by the collar of his jacket with one hand, giving him a shake. "I said I didn't mean it!"

"I know," Izaya told him quietly.

"Then why did you fucking do it anyway?"

The informant sighed, shrugging. "Spur of the moment? Besides, look…"

Shizuo finally averted his gaze towards the rest of the scene: the ones he had smashed with the door, a man clutching his bleeding hand in the corner, another dead on the ground that he recognized from last time. "You really fought back."

"Yup!" Izaya told him, finally regaining his composure and grinning. 'Shizu-chan's here!'

"Now you can let me down."

The bodyguard took a moment to absorb the informant before finally laughing and dropping the informant before picking up the nearest sofa. "Now I can finally kill you!"

"Wait, Shizu-chan…" Izaya began as the other threw the sofa, surprisingly at the crowd of men, who scattered, yelling for their lives. One ran up to Izaya, another bar ready in his hand to deal a final blow before the escape, but the informant beat him to it, dodging the descending bar before punching him in the gut in favor of killing yet another one of his beloved humans. However, his attack wasn't quite strong enough, and the man swung at him again, yelling.

The informant dropped to the ground and rolled away, stopping when his hand brushed against something: the pole from the man he had killed. He picked it up, knuckles white with the amount of force he was clenching it. "This is…" His heart skipped a beat.

"Die, you worm!"

'Why is it always insects?' He let old instinct take over and swung as hard as he could into the man's legs, hearing a satisfying crack before the other went down. Izaya threw the bar away hastily, crawling away from it until his back touched the wall. Using it as support, he managed shakily stand before realizing Shizuo had already dispatched most of the remaining men with their new refrigerator and coffee table.

He studied the battle for a moment, particularly Shizuo, who had the wildest of grins on his face as the last man went down. 'Typical Shizu-chan.' The other turned to him, eyes still wide with rage. Izaya sighed, truly tired from the entire ordeal. His head still hurt from the other day even though Shinra had announced that it was okay to remove the bandages, and he watched silently as the bodyguard stormed towards him, this time one of the crowbars in hand.

'Maybe I should move,' Izaya thought, but again, his body wouldn't listen to him. He looked at the crowbar, wondering if all this "ignoring" Shizuo claimed he was doing regarding his condition had really finally caught up to him, in the worst of times.

"Shizu-chan," he called the other's name nervously as he tried to edge towards the door. The bodyguard lifted the pole like a javelin and threw. Izaya closed his eyes, ready for the impending pain, just like that day, but again, he felt none, just the pieces of wall spraying onto him a few inches to his left.

"Hmph, look at you," he heard the other finally speak, an irritated tone. He felt fingers on his forehead, surprisingly cold to his raging headache, and opened his eyes just a little, finding Shizuo a little too close for comfort. "Is this what you called healed?" the bodyguard asked him.

Izaya laughed. "I'm not normal, remember? This is what I called fixed."

"Tch." The hands left his forehead. "Better get back to Shinra then with a headache like that."

"How'd you…"

"You're sweating like crazy, flea."

Izaya grinned just a little, getting off the wall to follow the bodyguard out. Shizuo stopped when he got to the door. "Shizu-chan?" he asked, a little confused at how the other was acting.

"This is the last time, right?"

"Huh?"

"After this, everything's going to be back to the way it was before."

Izaya chuckled. "Giving me a head start, are we?"

"Shut up."

They continued silently through the city, through the quiet sidestreets, and Izaya found his pounding head getting increasingly more uncomfortable, now finding himself once again wishing for Shinra's magic painkillers. They finally arrived at the apartment, and to the informant's surprise, Shizuo turned to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" Izaya called after him.

"Next time we meet, I'm going to kill you for sure," the bodyguard told him, nodding seriously.

"Really now," Izaya grinned.

"Yes, really." A small smile graced his features. "So make sure you're really healed, got it?"

"Yeah yeah," Izaya waved him impatiently away.

The bodyguard snorted before continuing on his way.

The informant watched him quietly, putting down his hand, frowning a little. "Back to the way it was before, huh?" he muttered, looking down at his hands.

_Warmth._

He shivered at the thought.

* * *

Hello hello! Ah it is getting hot again over here. Sweet fall weather, where are you? I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It is not over yet bwahaha! Ahem… XD

Thank you for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Boring," Izaya sighed as he casually tossed the folder back onto his desk, scattering a good half of its contents all over the surface.

"I stay in the hospital for a month, and you lose your interest in humans?" Namie asked from the sofa, annoyed at the informant's lack of productivity. As for the reason, she'd rather not know if it meant another meeting with that creature from last time.

"I never said I lost my interest," the informant retorted. "Don't be so full of yourself."

"Then why am I getting more work done than you?"

"That happens occasionally whenever I run into Shizu-chan." He frowned, mentally scolding himself for bringing up yet again the one thing that had been bothering him ever since the last time he saw the bodyguard: Shizuo himself. It wasn't that he missed the other; how could he, when he'd still rather see his nemesis dead? It was just that Shizuo, as a human, had always confused him, so he had conveniently labeled him a monster. Now that the bodyguard had saved him who knows how many times, it only left him even more confused about the workings of the other's mind, and that made him frustrated to no end.

Luckily for him, Namie hadn't sensed that abnormality yet and merely continued, beginning to stray away from Shizuo. "Well, it's never gotten to the point where you don't do anything at all."

"I read my emails," the informant declared.

"And not respond to them," she added.

"I make tea," he continued.

"That's not work, and," Namie said as she watched the other lower bite his lip, knowing what was coming, "that's usually my job."

"Well your tea sucks, and you keep on threatening to poison it."

"Oh, finally afraid that I'll carry it out, huh?" She almost smiled at certain victory.

Izaya grinned. "Not really. But really, my tea's better."

"You just boil the water and throw in a tea bag. How can you possibly…"

"Email from Shiki," Izaya hummed, interrupting her.

"There you go again, reading emails," she accused him.

"But Shiki's propositions are always interesting, unlike the others," the informant said as his eyes ran through the text on his screen.

"Oh really? What does he want this time?" Namie asked, scowling as she sipped on some of Izaya's "homemade" tea. It was as if he knew that she'd comment on his use of tea bags; this time he had added a slice of lemon.

"Hm…" The informant reread the email again to make sure his eyes did not deceive him. The words remained the same, and Izaya balanced himself between the urge to laugh and the need to sigh. "I've underestimated humans once again, it seems."

"How so?"

"Even the great Shiki is capable of screwing up every now and then," Izaya chuckled.

"Sheesh. That's what people do sometimes, you know. They screw up."

"Yeah…" Izaya said, resting his chin on his hands as he pondered his next action.

"Well, what did he do?" Namie continued impatiently, wondering if this was going to add to her workload. "Or am I not supposed to know, just like most of your other 'interesting' emails?"

"Some small gang in Ikebukuro stole some guns from him."

"And?"

"The type that would use them recklessly."

"Oh great, and what's he want you to do, huh?"

"Nothing. He's just telling me."

"Wow, so philanthropic of him."

"I'm just too valuable of an information source for him to lose."

"Boasting now?"

"Kind of."

"He wants you to find them, doesn't he?"

"Wow Namie, you got smarter."

"Stupid, anyone can figure that out."

"Don't equate yourself to everyone."

Namie sighed, returning to her computer, leaving the informant to his thoughts as he reread the email once again, stopping specifically at the last line.

'Find them for me.'

"Hm…" His grin widened as he realized exactly how he could use this to his advantage, because he was fairly sure he knew exactly who was currently stupid enough to pull such a stunt. "This is how I heal, Shizu-chan," he muttered under his breath.

.

Izaya skipped down the alley, whistling to himself as he listened carefully for any sounds between his breaths and jumps. As he had predicted, a light tapping of multiple footsteps at once began following him through the dimly lit alley, usually quiet during this time of night. The apartment he had been to one too many times loomed just over him. He stopped, turning around and pretending to act surprised.

"You guys again? Can't you all just die at once?" he gasped dramatically when he found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.

The owner took a step towards him, waving the gun at the informant like a toy while the others looked on, fingering their own weapons. "You killed one of our own, and now we're going to destroy you."

"It's called 'self-defense', you simpleton," the informant replied flatly.

"Really? Let's see how good is your 'self-defense' against guns," a second man threatened as he aimed, about to pull the trigger, but the first stopped him. "What?" he snapped.

"Don't forget the plan," the first man hissed.

"Sheesh, fine. But shut his mouth up first or else I might just end up shooting."

"You guys actually made a plan? I'm impressed!" Izaya laughed.

"Shut up," the man who wanted to kill him snarled.

"We're going to make you wish you were dead," the first said, turning back to the informant.

Izaya sighed, disappointed. "That's so clichéd. Wish I were dead? Didn't you already attempt that?"

"You little…" The man grabbed Izaya by the collar, unable to control his need to hit the informant any longer. "Don't bother calling for help, because even that monster now won't stand a chance against us."

"He's not a monster," Izaya suddenly said and fell silent just as quickly. 'What? What was that?'

The man, on the other hand, didn't sense the change. "Says the one who's always being hunted by him." He smiled cruelly, bringing their two bodies closer together so that the informant could feel the heat against him, the impending danger. "I can understand now why he does it though. This is kind of thrilling."

"Tch," Izaya met him eye to eye, acting unfazed although he could feel his heart pounding against his rib cage. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, the memories of that night that he had hidden away still threatening to return and devour him whole. However, he was determined to carry this through; after all, if this worked, then everything would be erased, or so he thought.

"There's been one thing that's been bugging me though. Why'd he come save you? Both times?"

Izaya frowned. This was a question he had been dying to find the answer to himself. "You tell me."

The man didn't share the same sentiments and instead turned the conversation on its head, giving Izaya leeway to tear away from his thoughts on Shizuo. "Or are you getting fucked by him too? Funny how…" He never finished that sentence as a searing pain in his hands made him drop the informant, who took off in the opposite direction. "After him!" he yelled, picking up his own gun despite the open wounds in his hands and firing haphazardly at the retreating man.

Izaya continued running, laughing maniacally to his pursuers as they tried in vain to keep up, firing at random through the alleys. He needed them to follow though, so he made sure to keep a fair distance, trying hard not to follow his instincts of running swiftly off the scene back into oblivion. A sudden pain in his chest made him stumble, but he managed to catch himself and continue running while another bullet grazed his shoulder.

He finally spotted the specified location and jumped out of the alley, waving as he disappeared into the opposite alley before any of the Shiki's men could react to him specifically. The gangsters skidded to a halt, face to face with several dozen men, all armed with machine guns as opposed to the handguns they had managed to grab the other night.

"So… You punks decided to steal from me," Shiki said quietly as they began to back away, eyeing the larger guns fearfully. "Do you know what happens when you mess with someone more powerful than you?"

"Tch," the leader of the group looked away, eyeing the location around them for a way out. There was none.

"You die," Shiki continued, answering his own question as his own men readied their guns.

.

Izaya finally skidded to a halt, throwing himself against the nearest wall for support, panting. He brought a hand up to the burning part of his stomach and pulled it away, now coated in blood. "Shit. Maybe I shouldn't have worn black today." He laughed before a hacking cough took over. 'Oh well, if Shiki saw this, he'd probably kill me himself.'

Grimacing, the informant began to drag himself towards the good old doctor's apartment, trying in vain to stop the blood trail that was only starting to grow larger, luckily shielded mostly by the blanket of night. 'Shit… at this rate I might not make it…' Footsteps in front of him made him freeze, and he took a step back out of instinct, the hairs on the back of his neck tingling. He knew that sound.

"Izaya," Shizuo breathed when he saw the informant, his mouth curling into a grin. "Funny to meet you here in the middle of the night."

"Actually, this might not be the best of times," Izaya said, forcing a smile onto his face to match his adversary's.

"Really now?" Shizuo casually walked over and grabbed the informant by the collar, slamming him against the wall. "Then when's a good time for me to kill you for all those things you've done?"

"You could really kill me anytime, you know," Izaya said, attempting to force out a chuckle that only turned into a desperate gasp for air.

Shizuo frowned. It shouldn't be this easy to catch the informant, and Izaya shouldn't be in too much pain from being held up against the wall; he hadn't used his full strength, yet.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the bodyguard asked him, his countenance suddenly softening. The informant watched as the fury in the other's eyes dissipated into concern and frowned, feeling his stomach turn with confusion yet again, making the wound hurt even more.

"I just don't understand you, Shizu-chan," he muttered, his vision starting to fade now. 'Ugh, so dizzy…' He rested his head against the bodyguard's shoulder, his breathing slowing and nearly turning into gasps. However, he was determined to find out this time. "Why are you always so concerned?"

"Hey flea, what's wrong?" Shizuo only repeated.

A wave of pain finally sent the informant way over his wall of endurance, and he grabbed at the other's sleeves in vain, seeking for something, anything that would make the pain go away.

"Izaya? What's wrong?" Shizuo looked down, and then at the wall, both now stained with a growing painting of blood. "Oh… Shit! Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

"No… why are you always…" Izaya retorted before bending over, his strained breathing hot on Shizuo's neck.

The bodyguard wanted to let him go and walk away. He really wanted to. But, the man, his nemesis, clinging to his shirt for dear life, was just… He felt his heart wrench.

"Shizu-chan… act like you're supposed to and leave me here…" Izaya told him, his words contradicting his actions as he tightened his grip on the bodyguard.

"I…"

"Shizu-chan…"

Shizuo frowned, trying to grab a coherent thought from his boiling pot of hatred and confusion towards the flea. And he did.

"Shizu-chan, why are you so…"

"Because you're hurt," he answered.

"Why…"

"Shut up, I haven't thought that far. Give me a little more time," Shizuo told him as he picked up the informant, who gasped from the increased pain in his abdomen, and headed off. "How the hell did you get a hole in you this time?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from something both of them were hitting their heads on the wall over.

Izaya smiled, focusing his thoughts on his accomplishment to drown out the pain and the confusion. "By now, Shiki's killed them all… I'm healed." He laughed despite the pain, nothing but clouds in his vision now. "I'm healed…"

* * *

Hello! Sorry for the lateness! I was stressing over my lost PIN last week and didn't have time to write. Everything's okay now, so yay!

Thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

'It hurts…' Izaya closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing but only managed pained gasps as he held on to Shizuo even tighter. He could feel the dampness of his shirt against his skin, his own blood slowly draining out of him. Everything was becoming dull: the pain, the feeling of the bodyguard's now sweat stained shirt under his hands.

"Hey flea! Don't you freaking decide to sleep!" Shizuo yelled at the informant when the hand suddenly slackened. He looked down, remembering how Izaya had appeared the first time he had found the informant in that room: helpless and small. "Shit!" He quickened his pace to a run, holding the informant close to him as he pressed a hand to what he hoped was the bullet hole to stop some of the bleeding. 'I didn't know it was this bad! Fucking flea had to act all tough…'

"Izaya!" he called to the informant again in an attempt to keep him awake.

Izaya could barely hear the muffled footsteps below him and the frantic yells of the other. He drew his mind away from all of that and focused instead of what remained of what he felt. The warmth around him was so…

.

Shizuo looked up when Shinra finally emerged from the now all too familiar door.

"How is he?" the bodyguard asked, nearly dropping his smoking cigarette in the process.

Shinra sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "He'll live. That was some surgery though; did you chase him or something after he got shot?"

"Hell no!" the bodyguard answered a little too fast, making the doctor raise an eyebrow in suspicion. Shizuo calmed down, lowering his voice. "Was it really that bad? I mean… he was bleeding all over the place."

"Not really, but he's lost quite a lot of blood. I'm guessing that he probably moved quite a distance from where he was shot."

"Is that so…" Shizuo muttered under his breath as he took another drawl from his cigarette.

"So what happened? I'm surprised that he's moving around by himself so easily now," the doctor asked, curious.

"I don't know. He said something about 'them' being killed by some guy called Shiki," the bodyguard answered, shrugging.

"Shiki?"

"You've heard of him?"

"Ah, no," Shinra frowned. "Probably one of his connections. Any idea who the people Izaya mentioned are?"

Shizuo bit his lip. "He kept on yapping about being finally healed and stuff…"

"Oh, I see…" They both fell silent for a moment before Shinra spoke again. "That's surprising; I wouldn't expect Izaya to kill humans if he loved them so much."

"I wouldn't put it past him. That crazy flea made a girl jump off a building!" Shizuo on the other hand didn't share the same sentiments.

"Oh, Celty told you about that case?" Shinra chuckled. "Well, he did specifically call Celty to the scene, and she did save the girl."

"But… ah shit," Shizuo sighed, defeated. He was tired and didn't feel up to arguing against the informant at the moment, just this time.

The doctor chuckled, sensing the other's exhaustion. "Do you want to see him?"

The bodyguard stared at him. "Do you know who you're asking? And I thought you were a doctor…"

"It's written in your eyes," Shinra interrupted him.

Shizuo looked away. "Isn't he asleep or something?"

"If you call to him, he'll wake up. He's not going to die that easily," the doctor laughed.

"Huh, some doctor you are." Shizuo got up and walked over to door to the informant's temporary room.

"Hey, Shizuo?"

"What?" Shinra pointed at the cigarette in his mouth. "Fine! Fine!" He walked towards the ashtray on the drawer near him.

"Actually… if you hadn't found him, he wouldn't have made it," Shinra continued. "Just to let you know."

Shizuo stopped, turning to the doctor. "I thought you said it wasn't that bad!"

"Well that's because you got him here so early." Shinra grinned. "And because I'm a good underground doctor. Give him to a hospital, and they would've panicked for sure."

"Tch." Shizuo took a final whiff of his cigarette before putting it out on the ashtray and opened the door cautiously, closing it behind him before Shinra could react.

The room looked more or less the same, except this time, the informant wasn't sitting up and yapping nonsense at him. It was kind of strange, he admitted, just like all the times Izaya had been silent. It just seemed so unnatural, like something was missing.

"Izaya?" he called out cautiously, but received no response from the bundle of blankets on the bed. He almost cursed the doctor out loud but kept himself in check, careful not to wake the sleeping informant. He moved closer to the bed, surveying the partially exposed damage in the form of bandages on the informant's right shoulder.

The rise and fall of the sheets signaled that the informant was still breathing, at least, and Shizuo picked up a corner of the white blanket on impulse, drawing it down slowly until he could see the rest of the bandages on Izaya's stomach, wound tightly around the informant to limit the bleeding. He took all of this in quietly, biting his lip, before slowly replacing the blanket and turning to leave.

"Shizu-chan…" the words came out a whisper, stopping him.

"Shinra said you'd live," Shizuo told him, staying where he was, faced away from Izaya.

The informant chuckled. "Don't sound so disappointed."

Shizuo turned to look at him. "I'm not."

"Really? Why?"

The bodyguard frowned, a little annoyed at the flea's persistent questioning. "I'm just… not."

The informant chuckled. "Then what are you feeling now?"

Shizuo smirked. "You can't tell? I thought you're a good informant."

"I can't see you from here," Izaya countered.

Shizuo grudging returned to his spot next to the bed, glaring at the flea. Izaya looked at him curiously. "Hm… Shizu-chan, you have to stop looking so expressionless."

"I'm not!"

"There you go!" the informant laughed before closing his eyes. "Really, what did you feel? You don't make any sense, Shizu-chan. I've spent a good percentage of my life making your life miserable and then you go and save me."

Shizuo looked away, knowing that the flea would keep pursuing it until he got the information. It was his line of work after all. "It's just that… you're so…"

"Fragile?" Izaya finished for him, bringing back the previous conversation.

"But you have the stubbornness of steel."

"That's not a very good pick-up line."

"Shut up. As if I'd waste my time doing that with you."

"Aw that kind of hurt." Izaya chuckled weakly, his lips quivering. " Whoa… it's chilly. Hey, can you grab me another blanket from the drawer? It's cold."

"Grab it yourself."

"Ah, such a gentleman." The informant sat up, groaning, and was halfway off the bed before his strength gave way. Shizuo threw an arm out, catching him. He watched as the informant's shoulders began to tremble and frowned, wondering if Izaya was still afraid of him before realizing the other was laughing.

"Why do you do such things?" Izaya finally managed, taking a deep breath. He sighed, holding a hand up to his chest, wincing.

"What were you thinking?" the bodyguard growled at him but didn't move away.

"I wanted a blanket," Izaya began.

"No, I meant…"

"Back then, after I got shot?"

"Yeah."

"Hm…" Izaya closed his eyes, leaning sideways to rest his head on the bodyguard's chest so he could further catch his breath. "Shizu-chan's just so warm…"

Shizuo froze at the action, too surprised to move or respond for a second. "Hey!" he finally managed, turning red despite himself.

"I answered your question," Izaya muttered groggily.

"What are you…"

"Don't move for a few minutes, please? I'm cold."

"Tch," Shizuo sighed, calming down. Despite his still rather violent thoughts towards the informant, he remained where he was, watching the rise and fall of the informant's bandaged chest as Izaya drifted back to sleep.

.

"You didn't kill him!" Shinra rejoiced when Shizuo quietly closed the door behind him. However, his enthusiastic outlook was cut short when the bodyguard walked over and picked him up by the collar.

"What did you do to me?" Shizuo snarled.

"Huh?"

"The flea!"

"What about Izaya?" the doctor asked innocently.

"I saved him."

"Yes?"

"More than once."

"And?"

"Shinra, I want to kill him."

"Then kill him."

The bodyguard stared at the doctor incredulously. "Sheesh, you really are a horrible doctor."

"I'm diagnosing you," Shinra replied energetically.

"Tch. I'm not sick."

"Of course you are! You're sick with the same illness I have with Celty! We make sweet love every…" A whack on his head knocked him out as a web of shadows surrounded him. Shizuo let go, and Celty threw the doctor "softly" on the sofa, shaking her nonexistent head.

"_So what were you guys talking about?"_

Shizuo blinked, realizing that she had only heard the last part. "Uh… well…" he stuttered.

"_Is it about Izaya?" _she hit the spot instantly.

The bodyguard nodded in defeat.

"_You've been quite gentle with him."_

"That's what worries me. I don't know why I'm like this. I mean, I still hate him, no doubt. He's a total jerk."

"_Maybe it's just because he keeps on getting himself hurt."_

Shizuo sighed. "Maybe."

Celty looked over to Shinra and decided her next words. She knew the doctor would say it, and she'd rather not nurse him for a month because of broken bones. She turned back to her PDA, typing in the words a little slower than usual. _"Or maybe you like him?"_

"Huh?" Celty observed Shizuo's reaction. "No way!" It was a lot calmer than she had though it would be, but he still looked completely flabbergasted by the thought. "Celty, he's Izaya! And he's a dude!"

"_Yeah but it can happen, right?"_

"Tch, you read too much stuff online."

"_At least consider that hypothesis? It's the only other thing I could come up with."_

Shizuo sighed and bit his lip, attempting to think. Hell, if it would make the Dullahan stop thinking about such weird things, he'd better come up with a good reason now. He began slowly and as calmly as possible. "Even if by some chance it's true, it's probably because he's hurt." He made a 360 degree turn.

"_Really?"_

Shizuo looked away. It seemed like a good reason to him. "I just can't stand watching someone else hurt him."

"_That sounds like love to me."_

"Ha." Shizuo shook his head, more certain of himself now. "No way. It's just because I want to be the one kicking his ass, that's all."

Celty shook her head, her shoulders slumping in defeat. _"Whatever you say."_

Shizuo suddenly remembered something and looked at the still unconscious Shinra before turning to Celty. After all, she might know, having lived with the doctor all these years. "Do you have anything for chest pain?"

* * *

Hello! How is everyone? I have midterms this week :(. XD But I hope you enjoy the update! I shall now go cram my brain with information!

Thanks for reading!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Damn it!" Shizuo roared as he threw the man into the air, the unfortunate client's yells fading as he flew away from the two bodyguards into the depths of Tokyo.

"Uh… I didn't quite finish questioning him," Tom said, shielding his eyes from the sun with a hand as he watched the little dot in the sky disappear.

Shizuo slowly turned to his former senpai, processing the statement within 5 drawn out seconds before replying rather absentmindedly, "Really?"

Tom nodded. "Really."

"Oh. Sorry," Shizuo said, shrugging it off as he lit another cigarette and started walking towards the next location, his hands in his pockets as his mind dived back into his previous thoughts.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Tom asked, catching up to the long strides of his former kouhai. "You've been acting a little out of it lately."

"Eh? I'm fine," Shizuo answered him.

"Really?"

"Yeah," the other insisted.

"Whatever you say." Tom sighed. "Just don't send the next guy flying until I finish questioning him, okay?"

"Got it." Shizuo found his thoughts trailing back to the informant as they moved along on the streets of Ikebukuro and tried to push the flea away from his mind. It unnerved him, how his stomach would constrict every time he thought about the possibility of the informant dying in his arms from a wound that wasn't caused by him. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that every time he'd imagine the informant, hurt or suffering, it gave him a stomach ache. Then again, it might just be because he hadn't seen Izaya in any other state the past two months. Or, it was probably because he didn't quite know where the actual stomach was located in the human body.

He dropped his cigarette onto the floor, putting it out with his foot. Maybe Celty gave him the wrong pills. 'Yeah,' he repeated in his head. 'I'll go visit Shinra after this.'

.

"Shizu-chan!" Izaya greeted him enthusiastically.

"Why are you still here?" Shizuo growled, mentally cursing the Dullahan for directing him to that particular room as soon as he entered the apartment. She had obviously not given up on the idea of him liking the flea despite his efforts.

"Oh that's not a very good question. I was shot, remember?" The informant, with a little effort, managed to sit up on his bed, the playful scheming grin still plastered like always on his face. "I don't recover as fast as you do."

"Yeah, right," Shizuo muttered, remembering that "minor" detail.

"So why are you here?" the informant continued rather too happily. "Visiting little me?"

"In your dreams."

Izaya laughed lightly. "Of course not. If that was the case, I'd bombard you with even more questions. Anyway, I heard from Shinra that you had an upset stomach!"

"What?" The bodyguard cursed the doctor mentally.

"What happened? Did you eat something wrong?" If anyone but Izaya had asked this question, Shizuo would've thought that the person was genuinely concerned, but unfortunately, it was Izaya who had to ask.

"Why would you care?" the bodyguard returned, starting to get annoyed by Izaya's continuous yapping.

"So I'll know what to sneak into your food next time! I haven't tried that method yet…" He was cut short by the other, who had grabbed him by the collar. "Ah, Shizu-chan is violent!"

"Shut up already!" Shizuo snapped, shaking him a little before throwing him back on the bed. A sharp yell immediately drowned out the bodyguard's own frustrated breathing.

Izaya curled in slowly after the impact, groaning as he clutched at his wound, his breathing hitched. He hadn't expected that small action to bring on such a huge amount of pain and blinked through the tears, glaring dazedly at the bodyguard.

"What's wrong?" he heard Shizuo's voice among his own strained breaths.

"What kind of question of that? You know what's wrong," the informant breathed, trying to relax his muscles and ignore the persistent pain. He'd get the other back for this later.

"Izaya…" Shizuo began, touching the other's shoulder as gently as he could. He could almost feel the guilt in his stomach. 'Wait, what the hell?' he thought, but something all too familiar happened that cut his own analysis of himself off: Izaya froze. "Izaya?" he repeated the other's name, now starting to panic. "No, Izaya, don't start this again."

The informant on the other hand flinched away, staring at the other wide-eyed before finally catching his breath and relaxing as much as he cold despite the pain that still shot out through his entire body from his chest.

"Izaya," Shizuo tried again, not believing what he just saw.

"Get out…"

"I thought you said you were healed."

"Get out!" the informant snapped, although bodyguard saw no anger in the other's eyes, only…

"Izaya, you're not afraid of me, are you?"

"Shizu-chan, I'm tired and my wound hurts, so please…"

The bodyguard sighed, scratching his head. He hoped that this was a dream talking to him. "All right." He stood up and started walking to the door before stopping, feeling as if he needed to come up with some parting words. "I'll come back later," he told the informant and left before Izaya could respond, the door closing quite calmly behind him.

The informant continued staring at the closed door, too exhausted to move from where he lay. "You didn't have to promise me that." He looked at his hand, watching as the faint trembling subsided before clenching them in an attempt to relieve some of the pain he felt, seemingly even more intense than it was before. "What the hell…"

.

"Shizuo! I didn't know you were here! Did Celty let you in?" Shinra asked when he spotted the bodyguard.

"Yeah," the other answered.

"Oh! You visited Izaya! What a…"

"Shinra, something's wrong with me," Shizuo said, sighing as he massaged his forehead in frustration.

"Huh? Was it the stuff Celty gave you?"

"Did she pick the wrong ones?" the bodyguard asked, his eyes trailing to the room that Celty had retrieved the pills from.

"Uh… On the contrary…" He wondered if he should tell the bodyguard.

"Shinra," Shizuo threatened.

Shinra laughed nervously, scratching his head. "They were just sugar pills. Candy."

"What?" The bodyguard blinked at him.

"Seriously, there's nothing wrong with you, physically at least."

"Are you implying something?"

"No no!" Shinra responded, grinning and waving his hands around madly.

Shizuo sighed, deciding that he'd call it a day. Maybe a good sleep would help. "I'm going home then."

"Already?" Shinra asked, following him to the door.

"You should check on the flea."

"Uh… okay?" The doctor said as the door closed behind the bodyguard. "Really now," he said him himself, chuckling. His eyes found Izaya's door, and he frowned, wondering if he should follow the bodyguard's advice even though the informant's next change of bandages is 2 hours from now.

Shinra stopped at the door to Izaya's temporary sick room. 'Maybe Shizuo decided to throw my drawer at him?' He sighed, mentally preparing himself for the possibility of another hundred thousand yen worth of repairs. "Izaya?" he called the informant's name carefully as he opened the door just a little. Hearing no reply, he went in only to find the other breathing heavily, one hand clenched tightly around the sheets and the other on his shirt above the bandages.

"Oh geez," Shinra muttered as he ran over to the informant, pushing his hand away and pulling up his shirt to find everything starting to stain a bright red. He began unraveling the bandages when Izaya finally seemed to realize his presence.

"Your painkillers aren't working this time," the informant breathed.

"Yeah, that's because you tore open two of your stitches," Shinra told him, grimacing at the damage. "Hold still, I'll give you something else for the pain after I fix this."

Izaya forced a chuckle. "How about give me the medicine first and then fix the damage?"

"Can't, you've lost enough blood. Just bear with it."

Izaya sighed, closing his eyes. "Damn you, Shizu-chan."

"He did this?" Shinra asked as he pulled over his cart of supplies.

"He threw me back on the bed after trying to choke me."

"He tried to kill you?"

"Okay, I might have exaggerated that. Damn…" He flinched when Shinra inserted the needle.

"Hold still," the doctor told him again. Izaya bit on his lip, determined not to yell out like he did after Shizuo threw him. Luckily for both of them, Shinra's skills as a doctor sped up the process to a matter of minutes. The underground doctor ran out of the room to grab some medicine after finishing his work, and Izaya finally relaxed when he felt the chemicals running through his body, the pain dulling to a bearable itch.

The informant laughed. "At this rate, I'm going to get addicted to this stuff."

"If you'd stop getting yourself this badly injured, you should be fine," Shinra retorted.

"I suppose."

"So what did you say to make Shizuo do this?"

"Oh, the usual. He said something about a stomach ache, and it kind of went from there," Izaya replied, closing his eyes, tired from the ordeal.

"It's not really a stomach ache…"

"Oh?"

"Uh…" Shinra laughed nervously. "Well… How should I explain…"

"Oh? It sounds like… you had… something to do with this…" Izaya said, beginning to fade.

"Really? Maybe it's your imagination."

"Ha, I know… that… Damn you're overdosing me…"

"No I'm not. It's supposed to do that."

"Bull…"

A light snore saved the doctor the trouble this time, and Shinra sighed in relief, moving his hand over to the bag of liquid painkillers to adjust the amount going into the informant. "Luckily I thought of this beforehand," he hummed to himself. "Let's see… how are we going to go about doing this?"

"_You're really enjoying this aren't you?"_

Shinra grinned as he closed the door behind him. "Isn't it so obvious, Celty? Just look at the two of them!"

She shook her nonexistent head. _"Don't push too hard."_

"I'm not! I'm not!" he reassured her. "I'm just giving them little nudges here and there."

.

Shizuo woke to his cellphone vibrating, cursing at himself for forgetting to just turn the entire thing off. He had counted on today being his day off to rest and clear his mind, but, judging from the caller's name that flashed at him, things weren't going to get any simpler for him.

"Hello?" he answered, trying not to sound too angry.

"Shizuo…" the weary voice on the other hand nearly made him fall out of bed.

"Shinra?"

"Wah! How could you do that to me?" the doctor exploded dramatically. A little too dramatically.

Shizuo frowned, knowing what was coming. "Izaya? Did I…"

"Your tore open two of his stitches, so if I didn't go in after you told me to, he might have bled to death again!"

"Oh…"

"Ah, but nevermind about that!" the doctor continued a little too excitedly for Shizuo's taste.

"What?"

"Ah, so… Izaya wants to see you!"

"What?" Now Shizuo knew the other was lying. "Shinra, he told me to get out last time."

"Huh?" The doctor was finally starting to sound like he wasn't acting.

"I don't know," the bodyguard sighed.

"Wait, Shizuo, did something happen? Besides you throwing Izaya around, I mean."

"He… I don't know…" the bodyguard thought back to yesterday. "He froze when I touched him."

"Ah! Did you touch him inappropriately?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shizuo finally roared into the phone. "I just touched his shoulder to see if he was alright after I threw him! What the fuck! Don't come up with weird ideas!"

"Ah ok! Ok!" Shinra said. Shizuo could almost imagine the other grinning.

"Sheesh, you're really starting to turn into another Izaya…"

"I've probably been around him too often lately," the doctor said, laughing. "Anyway, visit Izaya, okay?"

"He doesn't want me there."

"Oh, so you're willing to visit if he asks for you?"

"Huh? Wait, I didn't say that!"

"Well, then come! Doctor's orders!"

"Fuck you!" Shizuo hung up on him, throwing himself back into the comfort of his pillow. He blinked at the ceiling for a while, calming his breathing as he attempted to drift back to sleep. The dim room blurred, and he saw the informant again, curled up on the bed, in pain yet trying to keep a strong mask on. Shizuo blinked again, finding himself back in his room, and looked over to his phone, frowning. He sighed, turning onto his side. The informant stared back at him again.

"Fine! After my nap…" he grumbled as he closed his eyes.

* * *

Hello! Ah, I have to go on a school trip next week, so the next update will be on the first week of November! T.T Sorry about the wait!

Oh, so I was studying last week, and a few stories for Durarara! suddenly popped into my head T.T Yes I'm a bad student. Hopefully I'll get around to them someday!

Anyways, thanks for reading!

PS. Did anyone watch the OVA for Durarara? I foolishly decided to watch it in class with subtitles on and almost started laughing during this one part X.X Ah, Shizuo how I love thee XD


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Izaya heard the sound of typing and a voice talking as he attempted to blink himself awake.

"Wait, you told him that? Aw I was going to tell him!"

The speaker paused for a moment before continuing. "Yeah, that's true."

'Shinra?" Izaya finally identified the voice's owner. 'Damn… stupid medication…'

"Nah, it's not your fault. It's the power of love!"

The informant heard a loud whack through his door, indicating that the Dullahan had hit the unfortunate doctor.

"Wah! Why'd you hit me? I was talking about Shizuo!"

'What?' Izaya could feel himself wake up just a little bit more. 'Shizu-chan's in love? Oh, this should be good.'

"That's because he doesn't realize it himself."

'Who does he like? Who does he like?'

"Oh, come on, Celty! It's so obvious that he's in love with Izaya."

'Huh?' If he had been any more awake, he would've have openly laughed at that. The bodyguard in love with him, the most hated man in his life? Impossible. For a moment he wondered if he was even awake.

"Would you agree to stay in your worst enemy's home?" Shinra continued.

Izaya considered this statement, wracking his weary brain for an answer, before starting to feel the dream world make a final powerful tug at his mind. 'Shizu-chan's in love with me…' he thought blankly as he felt his eyes close once again. 'Bullshit…'

.

"Shizuo, you really came!" Shinra exclaimed when he opened the door.

"How's the flea?" the bodyguard asked, not bothering to wait for an answer as he walked past the doctor towards the informant's temporary sickroom.

"Ah, the usual," Shinra said, mentally kicking himself for not waking up Izaya beforehand. Then again, he hadn't expected Shizuo to visit so early. The bodyguard opened the door a little more gently than the doctor expected him to and quietly walked into the room.

"Izaya…" Shizuo muttered under his breath when he saw the informant, who was sleeping quite deeply at the moment, the only signs of life being the slow rise and fall of the bed sheets. 'I did this…' He looked at his hand, remembering the way Izaya had curled in as soon as he hit the bed, similar to the first time he grabbed the informant after the incident.

"Ah, don't worry about him," Shinra's voice behind him brought him out of his self-loathing. The doctor chuckled a little too nervously. "I just accidentally overdosed on some sleeping medication. He'll wake up when the effects wear off."

Shizuo eyed the doctor suspiciously, his thoughts readjusting to the light of the new situation: Izaya asleep not because he had reopened the wound but because Shinra had overdosed him. "Accidentally?"

"Hey, even doctors make mistakes!" Shinra said, raising his hands up in defense, edging towards the door. "You should wait for him to wake up. It won't take too long."

"Wait, where are you…"

"I'll go make some tea!" he announced with a grin. The door closed behind Shinra, leaving Shizuo alone with the sleeping informant.

The bodyguard sighed, defeated, and walked over to the bedside, hoping that Shinra hadn't screwed up too much with the overdose; he'd rather not wait the entire day for the flea to wake up. Shizuo dragged a chair over to the bed and sat down, observing the informant as he slept.

"Well you look you're getting a good sleep for once," he muttered under his breath, frowning when he realized that it was only because of the medication. Shizuo rested his head on the side of the bed, a little tired himself, and began drifting for a while before a sound made him sit up.

Izaya's finger twitched as he came to, and he slowly opened his eyes, staring at the bodyguard for a good minute before realizing that he was awake.

"Shizu-chan?" he mouthed sleepily, not bothering to move from where he was.

"Yeah…" Shizuo answered, feeling his guilt nearly double. "I'm here."

Izaya blinked again, confirming that this really wasn't part of his numerous dreams. "Why are you here?" he asked, finally deciding to sit up to hopefully wake up some more.

"Visiting," the bodyguard answered briefly.

The informant chuckled, looking down at his hands before taking in a deep breath. "Such a simple answer." He continued before the bodyguard could even begin a retort. "So why are you visiting?"

"Tch, just felt like it, flea," Shizuo answered, crossing his arms and looking the other way.

"Is that so…"

Shizuo turned back to the informant, finding the other still looking down at the sheets. "Izaya?"

"What?" the informant asked, turning to him, eyes averted from his own.

Shizuo frowned when he confirmed it. "Look at me."

"I am."

"Izaya," he repeated sternly, watching as the informant seemed to force his eyes onto Shizuo's after realizing that he was unconsciously avoiding the other.

"What do you want, Shizu-chan?"

"I'm sorry." Shizuo watched as the other's eyes widened briefly in surprise, revealing the remainder of the red irises he realized were hidden much too often by the informant's tendency to smirk. They were so different from that time, so alive, just as they should be. The bodyguard blinked. 'What am I thinking?'

"Hm… so why do you have a stomach ache?" Izaya broke his train of thoughts, choosing to ignore the apology.

"As if I'd tell you," Shizuo retorted.

"You owe me," he hummed, pointing at his chest.

'So that's why he ignored me… bastard…' Shizuo thought.

"Tch, tough luck. I don't know myself," he answered.

"Wait, so it wasn't something you ate?" Izaya frowned.

"No."

"What a waste," the informant said, shaking his head.

The bodyguard shrugged, sighing. "Celty thinks it's you," he blurted casually before he could stop himself.

"Oh, I can create magic stomach aches for Shizu-chan now?" Izaya laughed, not catching the implication that the statement had. "That's so…"

"It's not that!" Shizuo snapped, frustrated.

"Then what is it?" the informant urged.

"I…" His voice caught in his throat, not that he knew what he wanted to say anyway. He opened his mouth and closed it just as quickly. How could he tell Izaya that Celty thought that he liked him of all people? He decided that there was just no way, even thought he could now feel the strange tingling in his chest double at the thought. He sighed, biting his lip. This was all just so complicated.

"Hey Shizu-chan," he heard amidst his thoughts.

"Eh?"

"Let me poke your hand."

"What?" Shizuo exclaimed, refocusing his eyes on the informant, who was once again attempting to avoid eye contact with him. "Why?"

The informant bit his lip, letting out a breath. "Let me confirm."

'Oh… that…' he thought, remembering the way Izaya and flinched away from him earlier.

The bodyguard sighed, nodding. "Okay," he said as he held out a hand to the informant. He watched as Izaya slowly reached out, finally resting his index finger on the middle of Shizuo's palm. The light touch tickled, and Shizuo tried not to flinch as Izaya slowly allowed the rest of his fingers to rest in the other's hand before closing his own palm into a makeshift handshake, his eyes a little too far away for Shizuo's comfort.

"Izaya?" he called out.

"Really… what do you eat to keep yourself this warm…?" Izaya muttered.

"The usual," Shizuo answered him, closing his hand over the informant's, making Izaya look at him.

'His hand's so thin… It's like I could crush it if I used any more force…"

"Are you sure it's not because you're not eating it enough?" he asked the informant.

"Tch, I happen to normally have a fairly healthy diet," Izaya retorted.

"Right." He stared at their handshake, wondering when the flea would let go. To his surprise, the grip around his hand tightened just a little, and he turned his attention back to the informant himself. "What is it?"

"I never did thank you, did I?" he heard in the smallest of voices.

"For what?"

"The first time you saved me," Izaya answered, looking at the handshake himself.

"Tch, I never expected you to."

"Then why did you save me?"

"This again?"

"Ah, sorry…" Izaya chuckled. "I should've expected you to still not have an answer for that time," He closed his eyes briefly before refocusing them on Shizuo's with a little difficulty. "But really… thank you…"

Shizuo stared at the informant, flabbergasted, "You serious?"

"No tricks this time, promise," Izaya answered him, grinning. "Just this once."

Shizuo sighed, honestly amazed at the way the informant was acting. "Uh… you're welcome," he said awkwardly.

It was almost strange, like it was some sort of formal agreement to a truce, not that the two of them would ever have one. They finally parted, and Shizuo could feel the sudden emptiness in his palm. His heart jumped again as he managed to catch the other's eyes. Izaya was right there. He could just… kiss him.

'Wait? What? No! I meant kill him!'

Shizuo got up abruptly from his seat, turning to leave.

"I'll visit you again," he muttered briefly before closing the door, leaving Izaya staring after him blinking at the empty room.

"So he really does…" the informant muttered under his breath as he clasped his hands together, trying to retain some of the warmth.

.

"Shizuo? What's wrong?" Shinra asked when the bodyguard started storming towards the front door as soon as he closed Izaya's room door.

"Celty…" the doctor barely managed to hear; the bodyguard was moving so fast.

"Eh?"

"She was right…" he said, biting his lips.

"Huh? What is she right about?"

Shizuo shook his head. "I'm going home. I have to think this over."

"Uh… okay?"

The Dullahan came in just as Shizuo left, barely managing to wave to the bodyguard before he disappeared around the corner.

"What did you tell him?" Shinra asked her.

"_What you wanted to tell him."_

The doctor blinked at his girlfriend for a few seconds before fully comprehending the statement. "Oh!"

* * *

Hello! Sorry for the long wait! Kyoto was beautiful (hearts)! Tokyo ("close" to where I'm staying for my study abroad) is all modern while Kyoto is all temples and shrines with a sudden giant modern train station in the middle. Sigh… one week is not enough T.T

Anyways, thanks for reading! Haha for some reason, I'm imagining Psyche and Tsugaru as Kyoto counterparts to Izaya and Shizuo in Tokyo.

By the way, has anyone read "Love Blind Eyes" here (I think it was written by Izaya Orihara. The pen name was changed a few times.)? I was keeping track of the author's newest story, and suddenly, all of her stories are gone when I checked after I got back from Kyoto! T.T I'm so sad; it was so beautifully written…


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

'I'm in love with Izaya,' Shizuo thought over and over again, eventually causing Tom to call it quits for the fourth day in a row after his kouhai had sent another five of their clients flying thought he skies of Ikebukuro.

Shizuo walked home with that line in his head, backtracking a few times because he had taken the wrong turn and stopping more than once after hitting and denting a random unfortunate street sign. Eventually, the bodyguard was settled comfortably in his own sofa, a cigarette in his mouth.

"When the hell did I…" he muttered before exhaling a trail of smoke in a half sigh. He recounted the events of the past month, the times he had seen the flea helpless and had unwillingly decided to help him. Or was it because he wanted to help Izaya? Impossible. The informant was and will always be his greatest enemy. He had decided that years ago, back to that very first day he had met the other in high school.

'Then why did I want to kiss him?' He ran through a list of ideas as the cigarette in his mouth burned away. Maybe he had just mistaken the two words. Kill and kiss. They were similar enough, right? But, he was certain that what he imagined during that thought, what he had his eyes on, was the informant's eyes. 'Okay eyes…' Red, wide, and curious, not scared, wide, and in pain. That was… 'I was just relieved that he wasn't still afraid of me,' Shizuo confirmed. 'But… don't I want him to be afraid of me? I want to kill him after all… right?' He sighed, remembering to put out the cigarette this time before it burned him.

"Forget this," he said, deciding that a nice nap would do his mind good.

.

Izaya stared at the message on his phone before closing the device, sighing. "Really now…"

"Does it still hurt?" Shinra asked as he walked into the room.

"Oh, no, it was something else," the informant told him, slipping the device under his pillow.

The doctor frowned. "Is it by any chance because…"

"Nope, you guessed wrong!" Izaya answered immediately, grinning.

Shinra sighed, his attempt to convince the informant that he wanted to see the bodyguard thwarted once again. "Ah okay. I'm going to bed now then. Call me if you need anything."

"Right right," the informant said, waving him away. He watched until the door closed and lied back down on his pillow, blinking at the ceiling above him. "Really… if Shinra would stop assuming that Shizu-chan would visit…" Honestly, he never expected the bodyguard to visit, even with that previous verbal promise. On the other hand, the informant himself was quite irritated at the whole idea of it now that Shizuo had gone and done something he had thought was impossible.

"There's no way Shizu-chan likes me," Izaya confirmed to himself before laughing. "Absurd." He snuck the phone out from under his pillow and looked at the message again. "Humans are so absurd…"

.

The bodyguard nearly fell out of bed when his phone blared to life at 3 in the morning. He grabbed at it grumpily, nearly crushing the device in his hand when he saw the doctor's name on the screen.

"What the hell, Shinra!" he snarled as he flipped the phone open.

"Shizuo! Shizuo!" the other called his name out excitedly.

"What?" the bodyguard yelled back.

"It's Izaya! He's gone!"

It took a full 10 seconds for that statement to hit him.

"What?"

.

"I know what happened," Shinra read out loud to the two in the room.

"_Who's it from?"_

"The sender's listed as Shiki," the doctor said, thinking. "Wait! Shizuo, didn't you mention someone called Shiki a while ago when you brought Izaya in with the gunshot wound?"

"Uh… maybe?" the bodyguard said, frowning.

"Then maybe…" Shinra scrolled down the list of names, finding Namie's.

"What now?" the woman answered on the other line. "Stop calling me on my days off already!"

"Uh… Namie?" the doctor stuttered, a little intimidated.

"Oh? Shinra?" She calmed down, recognizing his voice immediately. "Why are you using Izaya's phone?"

"Uh… well… I was wondering if you happen to know someone called Shiki?"

"Oh, that guy. What about him?"

"Uh… I was wondering if…"

"You want his address?"

"Maybe?" Shinra almost laughed with relief that the other was so sharp.

"It'll cost you." He could almost imagine her smirking on the other end.

"But…" he stuttered when Shizuo suddenly took the phone from him.

"You didn't pay me last time when I went with you to Izaya's apartment."

"Shizuo?" she sighed. If Shizuo was involved in this, she'd rather not be caught in the crossfire, having seen enough of the wounds Izaya received from the bodyguard. "Fine, give me a few minutes."

.

"You actually came," the head of the Awakusa greeted the informant as one of his men led Izaya in, closing the door behind him, leaving the two alone in the room.

"I'm actually taking quite a big gamble this time," Izaya replied, smiling as he sat down, looking around the place. It hadn't changed at all, he noted, despite having not been here for almost two months.

"Oh, really?" Shiki replied, resting his chin on the back of his hands. "Then you know what I meant in the message?"

"Maybe."

"Then why did you come?"

"I want to see what you're going to do with that information."

"Not how I obtained it?" he asked, flipping his cigarette lighter open.

"Oh, you probably caught one of them already before you even emailed me."

Shiki laughed, exhaling a trail of smoke, "Sharp as always, Orihara. Hm… I was wondering if I should confirm it," he said, lightly touching the other's knee, but Izaya stayed where he was, seemingly unfazed.

The informant smiled. "And what good would that do you?"

"Hm… I don't know. If it affects you so much that you'd stop working, then I really have no use for you." He looked into the other's red eyes. "And you know what happens when someone's purpose runs out in the yakuza, don't you?"

He drew back his hand when the other didn't look away. "Amazing as always."

It was at this point that he could finally see the uneasiness in the other. "Just what…" Izaya began.

Shiki sighed, shaking his head. "You read me wrong. Take a little time to think." He stood up, walking over to the refrigerator in the room and took out two cans of beer, offering one to the informant, who shook his head now. "No? You were always pretty eager to drink one," he commented.

"Ah, not today," Izaya replied, remembering the painkillers probably still present in his bloodstream. He had found that he could move around freely without ripping open his stitches just yesterday, but without the painkillers, he couldn't even sit up. That and the taxi had miraculously gotten him here, and he was not about to get transported into a hospital because of a bad mixture of drugs. 'I wonder if Shinra found my phone…' he thought, hoping that the doctor had not panicked enough to overlook the shiny black object on his empty bed back at the apartment.

"Whatever you say," Shiki said, returning the other can to the refrigerator before sitting back down, taking a gulp from his. "Orihara…"

Izaya suddenly had a realization. "That last job was a test."

Shiki laughed. "So you figured it out?"

"You were wondering why I haven't been doing my job the past month, and when this opportunity arose, you took it to see if I was still able to work."

"And you performed magnificently." He took another gulp. "Too perfect actually. I was wondering…"

Izaya closed his eyes. "I'm fine."

"Really?" he smiled, turning to look at the informant, who met his eyes. "Then I was wondering if you can take care of a little something I received the other day. You must be running out of money, taking such a long vacation."

"It was for health reasons, you know," Izaya responded, frowning.

"Of course." He handed the informant an envelope, which Izaya pocketed. "I'd look forward to seeing you in action again."

"Soon," Izaya told him, slowly standing up. 'Aw, crap…' he thought when he felt the familiar wave of dizziness start to engulf his conscious.

"Orihara?" Shiki called.

"Eh?" Izaya said, turning to look at him.

"I've seen a lot in my line of work."

The informant chuckled weakly. "I figured."

"Well, you are my best informant. Take care that it does not happen again. I won't be so lenient next time."

"Of course." He nearly sighed in relief.

At that moment they heard a crash outside the room, followed by some yelling, before the door to the room suddenly fell over, torn cleanly from its hinges.

"Ah, he's here!"Shiki chuckled, looking at the damage, unfazed. "It's just as they say, such strength."

Shizuo strode over until he was between the two, eyeing Shiki with the eyes of a predator hunting its prey.

"Shizu-chan…" a soft voice brought him back to his senses, and he realized that Izaya was grabbing on to his sleeve to steady himself.

"You'd better get him back to the doctor," Shiki told the bodyguard, before downing the rest of his beer. He watched as Shizuo hoisted the ailing informant onto his back and, with a last glance back, walked casually out the door. "Really," he sighed as he took out his phone, lighting another cigarette with his other hand as he dialed.

"Hello? Oh, yes he came." He took his cigarette out briefly and breathed out a trail of smoke. "It's just as you said; Orihara seems fine." He chuckled. "Well, thank you for your work. I'll be sure to give you the ingredients you were looking for."

"Shiki-san?" one of the underlings called out uneasily.

"Oh, I need to calm my men. He's caused quite the scene." He laughed. "I'm pleased to do business with you, Shinra Kishitani." He hung up.

"Uh… Shiki-san?" the man repeated. "Is everything okay?"

"Of course," he replied, standing up to stretch. "I just got my informant back. Everything's fine."

.

Shinra hung up, sighing in relief before turning to his girlfriend, a wide smile on his face. "How'd you like my acting?"

"_You just established connections with the yakuza?"_ Celty asked, coming close to hitting him.

"It's just this once!" Shinra said, raising his hands up in defense. "Besides, I really wanted that…"

"_That's illegal!"_

"It's for medical research!"

She shook her head, wondering if the doctor could get anymore crazy. _"Since when?"_

"Uh… since he called the first time inquiring about Izaya."

"_He had your number?"_

"Maybe Izaya gave it to him?"

"_Sheesh, that bastard."_

"Hey Celty, don't be vulgar," Shinra said, grinning. "Besides I did send Shizuo to get him, so this should get interesting."

"_Do you think that Izaya knows?"_

"Of course he knows! He's Izaya! Now we just have to wait to see what happens!"

"_You're getting way too into this," _she typed, shaking her head.

* * *

Hello! Sorry for the long wait! X.X I'm randomly hitting writer's block nowadays. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thanks for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

"Shizu-chan?" Izaya finally dared to call out to the bodyguard, making his ride stop. The informant sighed in relief when he confirmed that the other wasn't still on rampage mode. "Wow, for a second I thought you were going to tear the building down back there. So scary," he added, attempting to reconfirm that the other had really calmed down.

"You're still shaking," Shizuo commented, ignoring him.

Izaya's eyes widened at the statement before he chuckled weakly, now consciously trying to stop his traitorous limbs. "I guess I am."

"Should I put you down?"

The gesture caught the informant by surprise, and he hesitated before burying his face in the bodyguard's hair when another wave of pain engulfed him. "No…" he managed, waiting for the throbbing to subside, concentrating instead on the warmth that radiated off of Shizuo's back.

"Hang on, we're about halfway to Shinra's," the bodyguard told him, starting to walk again.

"No, take your time," the informant insisted, calming his breathing.

"You're in pain."

"I know. Aren't I always?"

Shizuo frowned, opening his mouth to retort, but the flea beat him to it.

"I want to think a little. Shinra talks too much."

The bodyguard sighed at the other's unreasonableness. "Tch, not my fault if you pass out from the pain then," Shizuo told him, slowing down to his regular stroll. They continued in silence until they reached the park, and a light squeeze on his shoulder made the bodyguard stop again.

"Hey, can you put me down for a bit?"

"Where?"

"Over there," Izaya pointed at the bench.

Frowning for a few seconds as he thought the situation through, Shizuo complied and headed over for the bench, squatting a little so that the informant could slide off of him and seat himself comfortably on the wooden piece of park decoration.

Izaya closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he felt the pain surge before he heard the other walk away. 'Figures that he'd leave me as soon as he could get rid of me,' he thought, trying to distract himself. Izaya chuckled. 'But… he came for me… Shizu-chan actually came for me, huh? How strange…'

A sudden warmth against his cheek brought him back to the real world, and he opened his eyes to a can of coffee. "You know I like tea better…"

'He didn't leave…'

Shizuo shrugged as he sat down beside the informant and sipped his own. "They didn't have it warm."

"No such thing," the informant retorted.

"It was sold out."

"Then look for another vending machine, you simpleton."

Shizuo shrugged. "Can't."

"Why not?" Izaya asked after taking a sip from his own can, admitting that the drink did make him feel slightly better even if it wasn't tea.

"I threw the other one at you about two months ago."

"What? They didn't replace it?" Izaya faked an astonished gasp.

"Guess not. The hole's still there."

"Oh…" The informant looked at his drink contemplatively. 'So he really did look for another vending machine…' The conversation paused with that, and the two sat in silence with only an occasional sip that disturbed the calm. It was a good ten minutes after the informant had finished his own drink before Shizuo finally broke the trend.

"How'd you get there anyway?" the bodyguard asked, deciding that he'd might as well find out a little more about Izaya's earlier "acquaintance" back at the yakuza hideout.

"Taxi," the informant answered.

"Oh. Figures," the other replied sarcastically.

Izaya frowned. "Just because I'm famous doesn't mean I can't be a good customer."

"You mean infamous?" Shizuo corrected him.

"Whatever."

"Why'd you go?"

Izaya laughed. "What kind of question is that?"

"You know what kind of question it is," Shizuo replied quietly. Honestly, he had not considered the probability that the two had more than a work relationship until now. Now that it had struck him, he was quite determined to find out just how the man Izaya protected from him back at the hideout was related to the flea.

Izaya almost squirmed at the amount of seriousness the other was taking this. "It was business," he answered, shrugging. "I had to show Shiki that I could still work as his informant."

"He's yakuza! What if he…" Shizuo paused, biting his lip. "What if he did what Alastair did?"

Izaya suddenly felt himself freeze; the fact that the other would even try bringing back those memories so late in the game struck a chord. "Why would you care?" he snapped despite himself.

"I do!" Shizuo snapped back, unfazed by the informant's burst of anger.

However, the annoyance disappeared as quickly as it had come. "Why?" Izaya asked, lowering his voice as calmly as his self-control could afford. He wanted to confirm.

"What the hell!" the bodyguard spat. "The 'why' question again?"

"What do you mean, again? It's not like you ever answer me!" Izaya crossed his arms when the other didn't reply. "See? Even now you still haven't answered me. How can you expect me to…" He froze when the other suddenly leaned over and kissed him.

_Warm. Overwhelming. Melting… yet… cold… _

Shizuo pulled away. "I don't expect an answer from you."

"I… I see…" Izaya replied, looking away as he felt the heat go straight up to his ears. 'Why would he…' It hit him when he realized his hands were covered with cold sweat. "Because of what happened, right? Stop pitying me!"

"No," Shizuo replied softly, unfazed by the informant's continuous lost of self-control, which he knew to a point annoyed the other. Izaya did, after all, love control, and the bodyguard couldn't begin to fathom just what all this was doing to the other's mental state. He didn't want to provoke Izaya any more than he had to in order to get his point through.

"Then why?" the informant demanded, looking back towards him, straight in the eyes.

"Because you're Izaya," Shizuo replied simply, amazed by that amount of power the other could come back with even after losing himself.

"That makes no sense," the informant said, rolling his eyes before refocusing them on Shizuo's, determined to figure all this out. If it was two months ago, he would've used the other's affections to his advantage without a second thought, but given the situation now, he wanted to know why the other felt what he felt, just a little. As for whether not Izaya would even consider returning these feelings, the informant felt thoroughly frustrated at how confusing the bodyguard was making this. 'It's not like I don't hate him anymore,' the informant told himself.

"Of course it makes it makes sense." Shizuo stood up, breaking their eye contact. He crushed the can in his hand before tossing it into the trash can near them, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. "How can you love someone you hate so much you want him dead?"

Izaya stopped, surprised at how quickly had hit the target. "How can you?" he finally asked, cursing himself at how meek his voice came out.

Shizuo looked at him. "I just do. You say I never meet you expectations right? Well here I am, just doing the usual."

"How do you know that you love me?" This time, the question came out more bluntly that Izaya had wanted before he could stop himself.

Shizuo sighed, scratching his head. "Well, Shinra told me you were gone, and my feet just kind of acted on their own."

"Isn't that just because you want to kill me yourself?"

"Don't turn my old explanations on me, flea."

"This is so…" A final wave of pain cut their conversation short as Izaya doubled over, overwhelmed both physically and as much as he'd hate to admit it, mentally. The meeting with Shiki earlier did nothing to help or prepare for this.

Shizuo was at the other's side instantly, opting to pick up the informant this time before making a run for the doctor's apartment.

.

"I meant what I said," he whispered before he turned to leave an hour later.

"Bastard…" the bodyguard heard, making him whirl back around.

"You're not asleep yet?"

"You'd better come back here later. I'm not done with you."

Shizuo chuckled. "You're beginning to sound like me, flea."

The informant only managed to grumble an indistinct insult before Shinra's medication took him back into the comfort of his own mind.

* * *

Ah! I know this is really really late X.X Finals are coming and all my non-Japanese classes have papers. Everything's getting really hectic since it's nearing the end, and my brain is just flying all over the place. (Whoosh)

I really apologize for this, but the next chapter will be up during the first week of January, next year. I want to give this story my full attention when I work on it, and that's just not been happening these past 2 weeks. I also want to spend as much time with my host family and the wonderful people that I've met here in Japan before I go back to America.

Thank you for keeping up with this story and my occasional hectic updates. I'll see you next year!

Thank you for reading!


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

To Lady Charity: Ah, thank you for the advice! I think it was back in 8th grade, someone told me that thoughts should be in '(thoughts)'. I shall put thoughts in _'(thoughts)'_ from now on, and change it in the older chapters whenever I have time to do a full revision of recent chapters!

* * *

Izaya half threw the files onto his lap and closed his eyes, biting his lips in annoyance when a knock on the door made him shift, knocking the papers onto the ground. Before he could even curse, the door opened to reveal the one person he had been hoping and not hoping would come the past 24 hours.

"You're here," he stated almost accusingly, forgetting about the mess on the floor.

"Yup," Shizuo replied casually as he closed the door gently behind him and, after a taking a moment to access the scene, walked over to the pile of papers on the floor and began picking them up.

"Tch." Izaya turned the other way, refusing to look at the bodyguard.

Shizuo finally managed to stack the files into a neat pile and straightened them, curiosity making him glance at the paper that had taken the topmost position: a detailed info page on a top ranking executive. He sighed, and placed the papers on the desk with a thump.

"Feeling better?" the bodyguard tried to make a conversation when Izaya continued to invest his interest on the drawer on the other side of the room.

"As well as being bed-ridden with painkillers could make me feel."

"So Shinra still keeps you on painkillers, huh?"

The informant didn't answer, and Shizuo felt the room almost plunge into an awkward silence. He scratched his head, sighing as he tried to figure out what to say. Words were really not his strong point at the times like this.

As such, he almost smiled in relief when Izaya finally took a deep breath, having been thinking things through himself. "Shizu-chan… what are you really expecting from all of this?"

"Huh?" Shizuo blinked. To be honest, he hadn't really thought that far; he had been so relieved at finally finding out the truth beneath his own actions earlier that he had thought everything would work itself out as soon as he got it out of his system. He relayed these sentiments to the other, who laughed and shook his head at the illogical craziness of it all.

"If you thought that everything was alright already, then why are you here?" Izaya asked him.

"You told me to come back," he replied simply, earning a look of horror from the other.

"Should've known not to listen to me," Izaya muttered.

"Why not?"

"It could be a trap."

Shizuo chuckled at that, making the informant glare at him.

"You think I wouldn't pull anything in this state? Does your love make you forget the past that easily?" the informant taunted.

"No."

Their eyes met, and Izaya almost shuddered at the sincerity of the other's. He wasn't used to this calmness. Of the many experiences he had with the bodyguard's unpredictability, the one thing he could predict was Shizuo's tendency to flare up every time the two met. Now that even this one last assurance was gone, Izaya was at a lost.

Feeling the other's mounting discomfort, Shizuo broke eye contact first by simply closing his eyes. "Of course I haven't forgotten."

"Then you shouldn't be like this. Shizu-chan, I framed you once, and you lost almost everything because of that. Shouldn't that do something for this 'love' of yours? Are you masochistic or something?"

"Aren't you the one who's masochistic?" Shizuo replied, a little bit of the fire back in his eyes when he opened them again to meet the informant's. "I'm not the one who's been getting hurt. Besides, why are you trying to convince me that I'm not feeling what I feel?"

"What are you..."

"You're Izaya, right? Aren't you just going to use my feelings to your advantage? Why get rid of your advantage?"

"What makes you think I can even do that anymore?" Izaya blurted out before suddenly realizing what he had said, holding a hand up to his mouth. Shizuo stared at him, confused. The informant looked down at his hands, trying to make sense of what his brain had so suddenly spouted "Even if I did… Even if I did like you back, you should know that there are so many things that can't be done."

"Yeah."

"And you're willing to live with that? Just what-"

"Hey I didn't say we were going to start dating, flea, only that I loved you."

Izaya chuckled. "Bullshit."

A hand closed over his gently, coating it in warmth. It scared him, that warmth, but he refused to pull away, to surrender to his now possibly permanent instincts. Instead, he focused on his strengths, choosing to ignore this new weakness he finally acknowledged. "You just said we weren't going to start dating."

"This isn't dating," Shizuo said.

"Does your protean brain even process half of what goes on around you? There are many couples in Ikebukuro, and as far as I'm concerned, holding hands is part of dating."

"Well, it's one-sided, so it shouldn't matter. Besides, you just said that you're unable to play around with my feelings."

"That's…"

"Why?"

Izaya froze before laughing weakly. "Now you're giving me the 'why' question."

"Hey, you've asked it enough times."

"Tch…"

"Izaya…" he whispered gently, causing the hairs on the back of Izaya's neck to bristle. All that gentleness, treating him like a fragile porcelain doll because he had lost the ability to touch another without feeling even a fraction of the fear he felt that night… he could die of embarrassment. But, humans don't die easily, so instead, Izaya snapped.

"I'm not a doll, Shizuo!" he returned darkly.

"Wait, I didn't mean…" the bodyguard began, surprised at the sudden change in the other.

"After a doll breaks, it's gone, but I'm still here, and I fucking remember." Izaya began to raise his voice.

"Izaya, what are you talking about?"

"I wasn't blindfolded you know, and I remember the faces of every single one them, the voices, the hands, the touch, and every time I think about it, it's like reliving every single memory over and over and…" He stopped when Shizuo suddenly leaned over and pulled him into a gentle hug. Again, the warmth overwhelmed him, and this time he couldn't help but let out a brief shiver at the contact. He finally realized that he was taking deep shaky breaths, and closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the other's shoulder while slowly bringing his breathing back to a calmer pace. Izaya bit his lip, he knew his traitorous eyes also wanted relief, but all he could think about at this moment is not letting the other man see him cry, so he held back as best he could. Once again, he fell back on his old strength, his mouth.

"Should've known you wouldn't be able to come up with the right words to calm me," he tried to taunt, but the words came out shakily. Even his most valuable asset was failing him now.

"No, I just thought that this would work better," Shizuo answered, not moving from their position.

Izaya snorted. "Aren't you the playboy when you're not trying to kill me?"

Shizuo chuckled. "It's your fault."

The informant sighed, closing his eyes as he began to feel the faintest of aches from his still-healing wound. He gritted his teeth, realizing that he had suddenly lost it in front of Shizuo. He cursed the other silently for being so gentle.

'_No… it's not because he's gentle that I… Shizu-chan's gentleness had nothing to do with it,'_ he thought as he regulated his breathing, the only assurance being the arms around him and the warm shoulder that touched his forehead. On the contrary, this gentleness had calmed him down. _'Then why did I…' _Izaya pulled away from the other.

"Why are you always so gentle?" he asked, grabbing the other's collar, his hands more confused than angry.

"Because otherwise you'd break down like you just did. Besides, why can't I be gentle to the one I like?"

Izaya looked away. "Do you have even the smallest inkling of any homicidal thoughts left for me?"

"Of course," Shizuo answered without hesitating, finally letting the other go. "It just feels a little… different."

Izaya frowned. "Different? Get out, you pervert."

"Huh? I didn't mean it that way."

"I know." Shizuo looked at him in surprise. Izaya sighed. "Just… go… I need some time to think."

"How long?"

Izaya stared at the other, blinking. He hadn't even realized that he had meant more than a day. He touched his wound lightly, taking a deep breath. "Let this heal, then let me think some more."

"That's a long time."

"I'll…" Izaya hesitated. "When I've made my decision, I'll come find you."

"And if you can't decide?"

"That's for you to judge."

.

"He's pretty stubborn, huh?" Shinra said when he saw Shizuo leave the room.

Shizuo sighed, scratching his head. "I'm just being unsure." He hesitated. "He wasn't supposed to think too much about it…"

"_You can't expect everything to only be one-sided. There's bound to be some be some kind of reaction from the other party," _Celty typed.

"Yup, so don't worry! Whatever decisions you two make, we'll support them! Right Celty?" He looked at the Dullahan, who nodded her headless neck.

"Thanks…" Shizuo forced a smile. He felt strangely uneasy about the doctor's reassurances.

* * *

Hello! Sorry for the long wait! Ah, so many things coming up now… school, look for job, more school, Hibiya arriving… I was wondering, do you guys like Tsugaru/Psyche or Delic/Psyche? To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of Hibiya ahaha. He strikes me as a spoiled little prince, and paired with Delic (a host a host!), hmm… Oh well, I shall ponder the complexities of all this loveable craziness later after finishing this and "Midnight Snow."

Anyways, thanks for reading! Hugs and much love to all who read and even more to those who took the time to review! ちなみに、日本語のレビューを読むととても嬉しくなりました。ありがとうございました、LotusDandelionさん！

Last note: "Broken" is getting close to finishing! Its future is still a giant question mark for me, but I'm getting the feeling… soon…


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Izaya twirled the pen around in his hand absentmindedly, ignoring the mountains of unread files on his desk as he idly daydreamed another hour away. His gunshot wound had healed nicely, and he could move around without the medicine now. He had considered going to Shinra's for a final checkup since he had made the doctor come down to Shinjuku ever since he left, but decided against it. Ikebukuro was just too close to a certain monster in question. The screen in front of him once again held little interest, and he sighed, concentrating instead on watching the pen move around his fingers.

Namie couldn't take it anymore and finally stormed over to his desk.

"Izaya! Work!" she hissed at him, whacking one of the piles of papers on his desk.

"Huh?" The informant seemed to finally fully notice what he had neglected. "Yes, yes I am," he waved her away, returning his gaze back on the opened folder in front of him.

"Sheesh," she went back to the sofa. "If this is some sort of withdrawal then just go to Ikebukuro already! You don't have to see him!"

"Him?" The informant didn't remember mentioning Shizuo to his assistant at all lately. He frowned. After all, Namie seemed to catch onto these types of things pretty quickly.

"Shizuo."

"I'm not thinking about him," Izaya lied casually, turning a page.

"Right, keep telling yourself that."

He stared at the profile in front of him, holding back a sigh. _'So even Namie's noticed, huh?' _He knew he had promised Shizuo an answer, but at the rate he was going, he just couldn't. He couldn't even bring the question into his thoughts without feeling a crushing uneasiness in his chest.

That night, Izaya found himself working in bed yet again, unsuccessful at forcing his mind to sleep. Luckily for him, Shiki had given him only a few easy jobs that didn't require him to meet the sources in person. Izaya wondered if the yakuza boss had decided to let him have it easy for a while before pouring the normal workload on him again. He sighed. At the rate he was going, he wasn't going to finish any of these, easy or hard.

He felt his eyelids growing heavy and allowed them to close, relieved when the dream world took him. Any more of this, and he'll be seeing Shinra again for sleeping pills.

_The dream was familiar enough… Cold darkness… Voices… He pushed them all away with new-found strength, dodging the hands that grabbed at him and slicing at them with his switchblade. _

'_Is this going to go on forever?' he asked himself. He felt his heart racing; even in the dream world, his mind would not sleep. _

_He missed one of the hands and another grabbed him, forcing him to the ground. _

"_Let me go!" he tried to fight back, but his one mistake and brought a swarm of them on him. 'No… no…' he thought, his body going numb. "No…" he tried to yell, but his voice failed him. "Someone…"_

_Suddenly, a light lit up the area, and the hands disappeared, screaming in agony as the fire disintegrated them._

_Warmth…_

_He opened his eyes, but a large hand covered them._

"_Sleep…" he heard. A soft voice…_

"_Sleep…" it repeated. He obliged, letting the warmth wash over him._

Izaya groaned, rubbing his eyes and yawning after he forced himself to sit up. The sun shining through his window had woken him, and he had to think for a moment before he remembered just why all his work papers were strewn around him.

.

"Mail," Namie said, tossing the box onto Izaya's desk.

"Hey, careful! It could be breakable."

"Whatever." She sat back down on the sofa.

Frowning, Izaya took a quick glance at the sender's name before whipping out his knife and cutting the tape open. Inside the mass of foam was an unlabeled bottle of clear liquid. He rotated it, finding the liquid moving slowly along with gravity. It was quite viscous. The informant picked up the accompanying letter in the box, reading it with a sense of dread.

"_Hey! I asked around, and apparently this is the best on the market! Use it well!"_

Izaya looked back at the bottle.

"Shinra!" he yelled into the phone a few minutes later, unable to contain the red that spread to his ears. Namie merely raised an eyebrow at the situation and decided that it would be probably better for her to take her lunch break.

Meanwhile, at the doctor's apartment, Celty watched Shinra talk on the phone, unsure of how to react to the situation.

"_I told you it was a bad idea!"_ she finally decided to type, earning a grin from Shinra when he saw the messag.

"Well, just in case? You should really keep- No! I meant, as your doctor…"

Celty shook her head, wondering if Shinra was blocking Shizuo from calling at the moment, hoping that the bodyguard wouldn't call her. This subject was definitely not her forte.

.

_He was dreaming again._

_Running from hands that chased him relentlessly, laughter that taunted him…_

_A flash illuminated his vision momentarily. Suddenly all was silent, the moving shadows gone, replaced by darkness. Just darkness._

_He felt them again, the warmth from before. It came all at once, and he flinched away, feeling as if he had just dipped his frozen body into a tub of hot water. _

_It was overwhelming, the warmth… He suddenly froze, finding his body useless just as it had been with the cold._

_He knew where that warmth came from._

_This crushing warmth… It scared him senseless._

_"Shizu-chan…" his own voice came out timidly._

_It scared him senseless…_

.

"Sir, I think it's best if you had a little water," the bartender advised, only for Izaya to slam another empty mug on the table.

"I'm paying you, aren't I?" the informant said before hiccuping, his eyes unfocused. "Get me another one."

The bartender looked at the others in the room nervously, who seemed to pay no attention to this drunkard. He hoped he didn't have to take care of the customer afterwards; he had enough bad memories with unreasonable drinkers. He watched as Izaya downed another mug, fidgeting as he wondered if he should call his boss over, but the man was preoccupied with a couple.

"I don't understand," the informant said, making him jump and look back at Izaya.

"What don't you understand, sir?" he asked.

"Why did I come to a bar when I'm trying not to think of a monster in a bartender suit?"

It took the bartender all he had not to gasp when he suddenly realize who exactly he was serving. Now that he thought about it, Izaya had never gotten drunk before and never came alone. "They say drinking eases your mind," he replied, a little more comforted. Izaya would take care of himself, he hoped.

"Yeah yeah." Izaya yawned. "Ugh… head hurts…"

"Would you like some water now?"

"Fine fine." The informant waved him away, leaning back on the chair, only to forget there was no back. In a moment of nauseous confusion, he felt himself falling backwards as gravity grasped him. _'This sucks… reduced to a drunkard…'_

"Whoa, that's dangerous." Something stopped him halfway down and helped him back onto the chair.

"Thanks," Izaya muttered to the man, who took a seat next to him.

"Would you like something lighter?" the newcomer asked, smiling a little too widely for Izaya's comfort. He knew exactly what this guy wanted.

"Nah, I'm done for today," the informant said, slapping a ten thousand yen bill on the bar. He walked unsteadily out of the bar, all eyes following him. The cold night air calmed him a little, and he took a deep breath in attempt to ward off the dizziness overtaking his mind.

"You're in no condition to walk home like this."

Izaya waved the man away, starting to get irritated. It was bad enough that the man didn't recognize him as the greatest informant in all of life. "I'm fine."

"No, I insist…" He grabbed Izaya's wrist and started to lead him away.

"Let me go!" the informant hissed, pulling away only to lose his balance. The man caught him in a tight hug.

"Oh, that was dangerous."

"As much as I appreciate the concern, let me go home now," Izaya said, trying to pull away.

"My place is close. Why don't you come over for a little…"

"Oi, what are you two doing?" a new voice interrupted.

Izaya froze along with the man. "Ah, Hei-Heiwajima Shizuo! My-my apologies!" He felt the man throw him aside and run off, leaving Izaya to find support for his sudden lost of balance on the lamppost.

"Smart move, drinking in Ikebukuro when you didn't want to see me."

Izaya averted his eyes, refusing to look at the bodyguard. "What gave you that idea?"

"Shinra told me."

"Tch… The bar here makes really good cocktails," he mustered up an excuse.

"And you drank enough to make yourself like this? This isn't like you."

"Hey, even informants drink," Izaya retorted.

"Enough to make yourself lose control?"

The informant froze, finally meeting the other's eyes. Brown. Concerned with no hint of animosity. "Tch," he looked away. Shizuo was right; he wouldn't do this in normal circumstances. But, sleep wasn't working, and alcohol seemed like a plausible alternative for getting his mind off everything, especially the bodyguard.

Shizuo sighed, seeing the other's frustration. "Come on, let's get you back." He tried to pull Izaya too his feet, but the informant flinched away. "Izaya?"

"I'll be fine…" the informant muttered, his face a bright red. He couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol or the feeling of the bodyguard's hand on his arm, but his heart was racing. He felt even sicker now, his mind disintegrating. "I'll get a taxi."

"Sheesh, can you even make it to the elevator?"

"Shut up…" He tried to stand straight and found the ground rushing towards him instead. _'This sucks…'_ he thought as darkness took him.

When Izaya finally came to his senses, he found himself slowly floating past a park. He blinked, realizing he was on the bodyguard's back once again. He sighed, giving in.

"This is so embarrassing."

"Should I carry you another way then?"

Izaya suddenly pictured the other carrying him like a bride. "No!"

He closed his eyes, figuring that it would be the easiest way to escape. The warmth under him was comfortable, and it made him tired.

He remembered his dreams from before, where this fire had overwhelmed and devoured… He stopped. Not once, had the warmth in his dreams done anything to harm him. Everything he felt, the fear, was his alone. He frowned, trying to make sense of the burning in his own chest. '_It must be the alcohol,'_ he tried to convince himself otherwise. However, something told him that this wasn't the case, and he struggled to make sense of it all. However, when the answer came to him, he batted it away, refusing to see it. He groaned. All this thinking made his head hurt even more.

"Oi, you okay back there?"

Izaya realized he had hugged Shizuo tighter. "Yeah… sorry…"

As much as he didn't want to admit it, the warmth he felt right now was really… He stopped that thought.

'_I guess this isn't too bad…' _He settled for this for now.

* * *

Omg how long has it been? I'm so sorry X.X! This is an example of my horrible procrastination at its finest… and the giant brick walls I hit while trying to figure out how to end things. Wahhh Gomen gomen! I'll perform seppuku now! I wow… MS Word didn't mark "seppuku" as incorrect. Awesome. Wait, I'll grab my katana… Gah, it's only a shinai! T.T I'll go join shin-kendo now so I can get a real sword, then commit seppuku after I have mastered the sword and sensei decides I can use a real one. (Sniff) But I love kendo… Let me go for kendo first, then… go to Anime Expo… then… wait Anime Expo comes first… Ah! I'm procrastinating again!

Okay, that aside… Uh… I think the next chapter might be the last one… or maybe two more? Ah! I really don't know T.T Please be patient with me!

Thank you so much for reading!

Who's going to Anime Expo? T.T I'll be one of those indistinct humans wandering the convention. Maybe I should go to some panels…


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara.

* * *

Izaya blinked, trying to get everything into focus, when he realized that a raging headache threatened to split his head open. He groaned, prompting the one next to him to shift and run out of the room.

'_Where am I?'_ He squinted through the darkness, only managing to make out the stars outside through a slit in the curtains next to him. He remembered falling asleep on Shizuo's back, and this bed didn't quite feel like his, not to mention that his window should probably be more… further away? He tried to remember. Oh yeah, his bed was not next to a window or wall.

The light suddenly came on, making Izaya's eyes water as his head lurched again. _'Oh, Shizuo's place…'_ he finally concluded.

"Here, water," a voice told him gently, and he felt a cup pressed to his lips. He drank greedily, trying to soothe his parched throat as a warm hand rubbed his back. After what seemed like ages, the water had finally disappeared, and the hand took the empty cup away.

Izaya laid back down on the bed, covering his eyes with the back of his hands in an attempt to block out some of the blinding light. The water had helped immensely, but his eyes still wished for the lights to turn off. Reading all this, Shizuo got up and turned off the main room light, settling for a dim lamp on the table next to the bed.

"Feeling better?" Shizuo asked him.

"Like I've been hit by a truck," Izaya muttered, turning towards the wall. "So this is how a hangover feels like…" He found the silence that followed a little unsettling.

"You've never had one?" the bodyguard finally asked, trying not to sound too surprised.

The informant chuckled. "I've never been this drunk either. I don't drink that much actually." He felt the bed shift a little next to him as Shizuo sat down.

"What made you go overboard this time?" the bodyguard inquired.

"You…" Izaya grumbled irritably as he attempted to hide from further questioning by pulling Shizuo's comforter over his head. He could feel his cheeks burn up and wondered if the effects of alcohol were really this persistent.

"How so?" Shizuo pressed on. Izaya felt a slight weight on his back as the bodyguard leaned backwards onto him.

Izaya wanted to sink through the bed and disappear, but even if he was in a fully drunken stupor, his overly logical mind would've deemed that impossible. And, although his mind wanted to leave the current predicament, the warmth against his back made his body desire to stay. He nearly grabbed at the other when Shizuo moved off of him.

"Do you hate me?"

Izaya sat up in response and ended up crashing right into Shizuo's head, realizing too late that the bodyguard had been hovering above him. He fell back into the pillow, groaning from the additional pain.

"Izaya?" Shizuo asked worriedly, his own forehead uninjured by the impact.

"I don't…" Izaya muttered, massaging head.

"Huh?"

"I don't hate you!" the informant repeated, finally deciding to stay where he was just in case another injury befell him. He turned away from the other, covering his face. _'I'm still burning…'_ A hand on his shoulder didn't help the raging fire.

"Then what do you think of me?" Shizuo asked, his voice low and slightly quivering.

Izaya turned to face him when he heard the uneasiness in the other's voice. He studied Shizuo's honest eyes, a soft brown that focused only on him. _'So he's scared too…' _Izaya reached up hesitantly and brushed a strand of hair out of the bodyguard's eyes so that he could see them better, those gentle orbs. His fingers trailed down Shizuo's face as they returned to him, but the bodyguard took his hand before it left his face, engulfing it even more in his warmth.

"Izaya, I love you," he said, his voice firmer this time. Izaya thought back to all that had happened. This man had willingly saved him, his worst enemy, had helped him get back on his feet, had pulled him out of deep waters so many times… this informant who loved all humans but knew none loved him in return. Now this man offered him the love he had never received.

Izaya slid his hand out of the bodyguard's grasp and slowly wrapped his arms around the other's neck, pressing his body against the gentle warmth that promised him everything he had never asked for. The fire in him flared up again to his cheeks and then his ears, and he hugged Shizuo tighter, unwilling to let the other see him like this.

"Izaya?" Shizuo asked, the uneasiness back in his voice.

"Shouldn't you know by now?" Izaya answered, his voice shaking more than he'd like. He wanted more of this warmth, as terrifying as it was. He wanted to lose himself in it, drown in it, let it wash away everything… He chuckled, closing his eyes. So this was what love felt like. He felt a little braver at the solidity his mind had built up, and he finally let go, finding him once again staring into those warm brown eyes.

"I love you…" he said.

He watched as the bodyguard's eyes widened for a moment before Shizuo leaned in to kiss him. The other's lips were gentle against his, and Izaya felt like if this were to go on any longer he'd melt into a useless puddle and evaporate. A sudden hungry lick demanded entrance, and he gave it freely, letting Shizuo explore his mouth and drowning even more in the warmth of the bodyguard's tongue.

They finally pulled apart, panting slightly for air. Izaya wondered if his face could get any redder as he realized that the warmth had become a fire; he was practically burning. In response, Shizuo kissed him behind the ear, a hand snaking under his shirt.

_Hands…_ _Cold…_

"Shizu-chan…" he flinched when his voice came out a whimper, and the bodyguard immediately pulled away. He suddenly felt the very coldness that had haunted him.

"I'm sorry," Shizuo started to get up.

"No…" Izaya grabbed his hand desperately. This was not the same. Shizuo was warm. He wasn't like them. "Please… continue…"

"Are you sure?" the bodyguard asked. Izaya nodded and planted another kiss on the other's lips reassuringly. Shizuo hesitantly returned to his previous job and slowly pulled Izaya's shirt over his head, replacing the garment with a trail of kisses down the informant's chest.

Izaya shuddered at the touch, feeling his pants get uncomfortably tight. He started unbuttoning Shizuo's shirt in half-desperation and as a half-distraction. The bodyguard noticed, and, with one swift movement, tore the garment off, buttons flying in all directions. It was then Izaya realized that the other was also panting slightly.

After another moment, Izaya had somehow wiggled out of his pants without the other destroying them, and he felt a shiver as he looked up to the man above him as Shizuo clumsily removed his own pants, revealing his own throbbing erection.

Izaya grabbed it hesitantly, earning a moan from the other as he brought his hand up and down, stroking rhythmically. He nearly let go when Shizuo duplicated the action on him, pushing him down onto the bed. The bodyguard pressed their lengths together, stroking them in sync.

Izaya almost stopped breathing as the pleasure overwhelmed him, bursting through the warmth that had already engulfed him, burned him. He leaned up, panting. "Shizu-chan…" he called the other's name. "I want you…"

The bodyguard stopped momentarily, concern clearly showing through his lust-glazed eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked again.

Izaya kissed him roughly, biting his lip. "Stop asking already."

"Ugh, hang on," Shizuo muttered as he leaned over to the nightstand and pulled out a bottle and a package of what looked like condoms.

Izaya eyed the contents through half-lidded eyes before realizing that he recognized that bottle.

'_Shinra…'_ He was going to get the doctor for this later. Shizuo kissed him again, pouring some of the liquid onto his hand. _'Later…' _the informant thought hazily as a finger brushed against his prostrate, sending stars throughout his vision.

Despite both of their efforts, it happened again when Shizuo finally entered him, and he suddenly saw the hands again and the darkness…

"Shizu… chan… I…" he called out, grabbing wildly at the air.

"Shh, I'm right here," Shizuo told him, taking his flailing arm in his. Izaya immediately came back, tear-stained eyes staring straight into the bodyguard's. Shizuo kissed him again. "I'm right here," he whispered.

_Warmth…_ He was safe… loved…

"I… love…"

Shizuo's eyes widened at the words, and the informant moaned under him. They were both reaching their limit.

"Shizu…" He cut off the informant with a kiss. With a final shudder, both of them came at once, and Shizuo pulled out slowly before collapsing on top of the informant. He hugged the other, nuzzling his nose in Izaya's slightly damp sweat slicked hair.

"I love you," he whispered. He felt the other's arms snake around him once again, giving him a light squeeze.

.

"Ah… why is Shizu-chan so unpredictable… I hurt all over now…" Izaya whined first thing in the morning, his strength seemingly returned to him.

"Shut up," Shizuo snapped, blushing furiously. It had been so long since he's seen this side of the informant. He felt uneasy, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, a little doubtful. What would the informant do now that he's returned to normal? The bodyguard got off the bed, ready to fight the new day and the new worries by taking it out on a few of Tom's unlucky clients. However, a hand on his wrist suddenly stopped him.

"Hey, don't go," Izaya said.

His mind calmed a little. "I have work."

"Forget the work. Just for today?" The informant tried to impersonate a wide-eyed cat.

Shizuo looked away, feeling his face turn red. "What makes you think you can just…"

"I'm cold." That did it.

Izaya grinned in satisfaction when Shizuo climbed back under the covers, and the informant drew as close to the bodyguard as he can, feeling the heat radiate off of Shizuo's chest. "So warm…" he muttered contently as he closed his eyes. Shizuo sighed, putting an arm around the informant.

This was so strange, greatest enemies of all of Ikebukuro cuddled up in the same twin-sized bed. Shizuo closed his eyes, letting sleep take him once again. It was okay. Izaya was safe now. To hell with the complications later.

.

Three days later, Izaya finally set off to straighten things out with a certain doctor, just as he had promised.

"Shinra…" he articulated when the two of them met at the park. Celty had also come and was currently preoccupied with one of the parks' many artists.

"What?" the doctor replied cheerfully.

Izaya bit his lip, feeling the blush creeping into his face. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Did it work well?" Shinra asked, his enthusiasm a little scary.

"Huh?"

"The…"

"No! I… uh mean… ye-" he cut himself off. At least Shinra didn't say, "lubricant."

The doctor laughed. "Thanks for the information. Now I can recommend it to a few of my patients without any problems."

Izaya stared blankly at him. "You used us as test subjects?"

Shinra raised his hands in defense. "No! Not really! They said it was really good, but I've never heard it from someone who's used it first-hand… Oh, but I've already checked the ingredients so even if it didn't feel good, it should still be 100% safe."

"Shinra!" the informant exclaimed.

"Izaya!" a roar cut the both of them off, and they saw Shizuo sprinting full-speed towards them.

"Uh oh… Got to go!" Izaya waved as he took off in the opposite direction, followed closely by the bodyguard.

Shinra smiled as he watched Izaya leap over the railing only to return moments later through the bushes. _'Some things heal with time.'_

"Get back here, you flea!" Shizuo yelled as he came back around the vegetation.

_'Others don't.'_

"Oh no, Shizu-chan, I'm so scared," Izaya said dramatically as he jumped onto the side of the fountain.

'_I know Izaya still has nightmares, every now and then.'_

"You sent those guys after me last night, didn't you?" the bodyguard yelled.

"Well, I was a little worried that Shizu-chan wasn't getting enough exercise these days."

"That gives you no excuse!"

"See, you still can't catch me!" Izaya turned the corner, laughing. He was running, free as before, just running.

'_And the two of them still fight, every now and then.'_

A hand grabbed the hem of Izaya coat, and he jerked backwards, falling into the pair of arms that were waiting. "Caught you!" Shizuo gasped, trying to catch his breath.

Izaya blinked up at his captor's upsidedown face, frowning. "You caught me," he repeated as if he didn't believe it. He finally grinned, and leaned up to peck the bodyguard on the lips before jumping away just as quickly while the other was distracted, laughing.

'_He still has scars…'_ Shinra waved to Celty, and she looked away from the two just as Shizuo grabbed the informant again and pulled him into another kiss, Izaya's arms flailing.

Shinra took Celty's hand and they began their trek home, deciding to ask the two out to a dinner later this week after things had calmed down. They would take their time making fun of the new couple.

'_But even scars will fade with time…'_

"Izaya!" Shizuo's voice echoed through Ikebukuro.

"Shizu-chan!" the informant sang back._  
_

_-Owari-_

* * *

Sorry this is so late X.X! I can't multitask at all!

Don't die, InsomniaticFrenchToast!

(Hugs) radiobrain walker!

Ah, it's been so long since I started this: almost a year? I remember writing it in secret at my host family's house when everyone was sleeping.

It has been quite a rollercoaster, eh?

So, thank you so much for reading, and hopefully see you next time!


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